Divide and Conquer
by crimeson-plasma
Summary: Born to fight, Portgas D. Ace is the perfect soldier. But when he crosses an enemy known as Monkey D. Luffy, can he bring himself to kill the boy? Or will his heart prevent him from doing so? LuAce may become M rated, collab fic beween xLiliumxAricox & me
1. Chapter 1

Here is the story that I have written in a collab with wonderful xLiliumxAricox! (her profile is: http:/xliliumxaricox. / please check her out!). This fanfic will be another acelu luace story, so I hope that you enjoy this fanfic!

Disclaimer: we don't own Once Piece, Oda does. We do however own the plot of this story

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Luffy's POV

"Luffy! Wake up!" a pink haired girl announced. I was used to this, to an extent. Bonney, the girl calling my name, would wake me up at the crack of dawn, and force me out of bed. It would be strange for this not to happen every morning. I mumbled 'five more minutes,' but I knew she wouldn't take no for an answer. I would be lucky to get five more seconds. Not really surprisingly, she tore the blankets off me. I yawned and rubbed my eyes. Then I took a good look at the intruder. She had long, flowing hot pink hair, red lipstick, purple eyes, and a golden piercing below her right eye. She was wearing her own clothing, but had the rebel insignia on the back of her brown jacket. Her clothing consisted of extremely short shorts, a revealing top and her brown jacket. How she was able to run in her boots with heels during battle was beyond me. Bonney and I had been friends for as long as I can remember. We both have a monstrous appetite, we both love to fight, and we basically have a lot in common.

I'm rather aloof, despite my heritage and my position. I'm pretty much second-in-command of the rebel army, my father being the leader. He is a great leader, he's led us through many battles, and if there's one thing I've inherited from him, it's perseverance; the stubbornness of not giving up. I loved him a lot and I respected him, much like many others. Bonney once mentioned that even though he's never said it, he was proud of me.

The enemy we were against was the Arabasta government. I'm not sure why we are still fighting, and but we just are. The rebel army is not the first one to rebel. There have been others, but they've lost to the corrupt government. We have held our own in this war for a very long time, even before I was born, and I am 17 years old. We've lost many, but we've gained victories and new allies in return. The government has sent out troops to kill so many innocent lives. One of those lives belonging to my mother. I don't remember her, but I have seen many pictures of her. She was a beautiful woman with long, black, unkempt hair and owned a wide smile that I inherited. Her life was claimed when I was about three. One of our colonies had been ambushed, her being in it. I don't fight for revenge, I'm sure she doesn't regret dying, because she protected me in the process; I fight for the same thing everyone else in the rebel army fights for, freedom.

Getting back to my current situation, I didn't do anything as she dragged me to the bathroom and ordered me to get ready in five minutes. I knew if I didn't do as she said, very bad things will happen. I ran one of my hands through my dark hair, buttoned up my vest, and wore my cloak with the rebel crest upon the left shoulder. I pulled my hood down and took a good look at myself. Nothing out of the ordinary. I had my parents' ebony hair, my father's eyes, a childish frame, and a small scar underneath my left eye. Despite my facial features, I was quite muscular. Looks can be deceiving, I guess. My ears picked up a knock on the door; obviously it was Bonney telling me to hurry up.

As a bonus, I put on my treasured hat. A gift from an old friend, Shanks was his name. From what I hear, he's a part of the Whitebeard tribe. I don't know much about it, but I'm sure he's happy there. He was always a carefree man, and I do miss him. Hearing another knock, I knew I had to either get out, or my pink haired friend would break the door down. That would make about nine this week. I declared, "I'm coming!" so she wouldn't knock anymore; it was giving me a headache. I reopened the door, the moment I did, I was dragged again. Bonney was not the most patient person in the world. As we passed by, you would think people would give us odd looks, but no one did. They were all quite used to this, save for the new recruits we got every now and them. There were none, so I didn't have to deal with the wide eyes everyone gave us, not that I minded. I knew I was a bit odd, most of my friends call that stupidity, save for Bonney. Sure she thinks I can be reckless and an idiot at times, but she knew I wasn't dumb; I just saw the world a different way, and I didn't care for some things that were considered important by others.

We reached the meeting room, which was nearly empty. At first you would think we missed the meeting, but that is incorrect. Bonney gets me up at a ridiculous time in order to be here first so I wouldn't look bad. Sometimes we arrived before my father, it was almost laughable. Almost. Today was not one of those days, as my father was sitting in his fancy chair at the head of a room. It was easy to tell that the chair he was sitting on belonged to the leader/him. It stood out more than the other chairs, and it was at the head of the meeting table and room, almost like a throne. I didn't dare mention this to him, because we are going against a government that's basically a dictatorship, and he didn't want to be related with those monsters that call themselves 'justice.' Everyone was repulsed that the government thinks what they're doing is right, despite the lives their movement has taken. Then again, the way I see it, we think what we are doing is right, just the same as them. There is no right and wrong, good and bad, in war. There are only sides.

I said good morning and he nodded. Even so early in the morning, he's up to his neck in work. It bothers me how much responsibility and stress he has on his shoulders. Sometimes I think he's overworking himself. He denies it, of course, but this quest for freedom has already begun to take his life. Late at night, I see him coughing harshly, almost losing the ability to breathe. I know that he is unwell, but I dare not mention this to my friends, our comrades, not even Bonney. Everyone would lose hope without their leader; even knowing that he is going to die would have them fall into despair. I trust in him, I know he can make it. He's all the family I have, so he can't leave me, right? I wonder if anyone else has noticed that he's getting paler, or that he doesn't eat as much, or that he has dark circles under his eyes, even more than usual, from lack of sleep. He's going through so much pain, just to act normal, so that we don't lose hope. That's why I love him so much; he puts other's happiness before his own. I know that if I were in his shoes, I would do the exact same thing. But his actions worry me. The choices he make are reckless, just like me, but respectable, and they always aid us, however, I cannot see how pretending he isn't dying is helping us, namely me.

We had a good 2 hours before the meeting actually began, so I tried to think of a way to pass the time. I sat at my place, the chair on my father's right side, and began tapping my fingers. Bonney took her seat, third from the end on the opposite side of the table. I couldn't even talk to her, because we were so far apart. There are about eleven chairs in all, excluding me and dad. So that would be a total of thirteen. The eleven other chairs belong to each unit leader. They were all nice and all of them were my close friends, even though some refused to admit it. I took a look around the room I was so accustomed to. Nothing gained my interest. I started to draw shapes on the table, they weren't anything in particular, but it put my boredom at ease.

I didn't know what the meeting was about. It varied. Sometimes it was about our recent activity, wins or losses, others it was plans of raids and such. Although I may not be the best thinker, I am a pretty good fighter, if I do say so myself. Not one person, other than my father (and Bonney on occasion) is able to beat me. I did not get to be second-in-command just because I'm the son of the leader, no; I _earned_ my position through hard work. People don't respect me as much as they respect dad, mostly due to my goofiness, but I'm recognized as an important person nonetheless. I heard the door open. Bit by bit, the commanders of each unit began to arrive. Soon enough, all the seats were filled. Father cleared his throat and began to speak, "Let's get this meeting started, shall we?"

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Ace's POV:

War. This damned civil war had been going on for god knows how much time, and lives were just being continuously taken by those rebel murderers. I swear I had once been told once by the admirals of the government that even my father had fought in this forsaken war. In fact, it had been going for so long that no one really knew why the war had been started in the first place and what the aims of our side, or of the rebels had been. We just knew that they were murdering our comrades in cold blood. They had been murdering the soldiers that had bravely fought for their country, for their family, for their friends, for survival and for a day's salary that would allow them to feed their starving families. They had been murdering cruelly the people that had fought for honest reasons, the people that had once been their brothers and sisters, their friends and even their family. They had been doing this for what probably had been decades, I had never really bothered in actually learning for how long this war had been going on, I just know that it already was there even before I was born, and I am twenty years old now.

So who am I? I am Portgas D. Ace, formerly known as Gol D. Ace. I am the son of an honest and good woman and of a cruel and heartless murderer. I am the son of the murderer that took so many innocent lives and that decided to give me life. I am the son of a man that was executed by the government due to his crimes after a fair trial. I am the son of the man that is hated by all people due to all of his atrocious crimes against the people of the world and of the proud nation that is Arabasta. You can probably understand why I chose not to carry and use my father's surname. I hate the man with all my heart and soul. I don't think that I could hate any other human being more than him, no one.

My mother, Portgas D. Rouge, died giving birth, after having to struggle due to her relations that she had with my bastard of a father. She died after my birth, giving every single drop of her life to allow me to survive despite my blood and who it came from. Even though I was the son of a criminal and should not exist because of that. Yes, she did this and I cannot say that I blame her for my existence. I blame my father for it. I blame my father for forcing her to escape the government and from indirectly causing her death. Yes, I blame him for it. I was taken in by Monkey D. Garp, the famous 'hero' of the army, the man that captured my father and managed to put him through a trial. He, ignoring who my father was, sent me to a government academy and educated me.

He showed me what this country was like and how much it had suffered because of the war that had been going on at that time. He had also trained me in fighting, resistance and strength quite brutally by leaving me randomly at dangerous places. The great majority of the population had become poor and was starving due to the damages caused by the almost constant battling, however and even though all the damages of the war the population was generally in favour of one side or the other. This was what I had been taught there, along with more history and other important skills that a boy of my age should have. I had always been good at fighting, and at school I had been the strongest person around. There had never been anyone that had defeated me; no one had ever managed to do that. Eventually I had decided to join the army to fight for the country and to stop the people that were like my father. Even my childhood friend, Vivi, had done the same thing as me.

We had both gained fame quite quickly for how we fought, and Vivi had been quickly ascended to a general of the army. She was a very talented person and she was admired by many soldiers, and she of course had quite a bunch of suitors, although she had declined all of them. Vivi was the daughter of the king of Arabasta. Well, the king of the now divided country that used to be the proud nation of Arabasta. She had a deep hate for the rebels that surpassed the hate that most people in our side had. Her mother had been ruthlessly murdered by some person that had been on their side when she was a kid, and this had been the event that had fuelled this hate and also motivation to win the war and stop it like that. I had also been ascended several times, but I had the feeling that I would never reach the rank of general, at least in a very long time. I preferred it like that though, I enjoyed the thrill of having to fight at the battles, and I wouldn't like sitting down at a table planning strategy and rarely going out to fight. Yes, I definitely...

"Ace?" I heard a voice suddenly say, distracting me from all of my thoughts.

I almost jumped when I heard the voice. It had taken me completely by surprise. I suddenly became aware of my surroundings again. I was at the main base and I had been walking for quite a lot now. Where had I been walking to before I had become completely unaware of where I was? I didn't have a single idea. I was carrying the many weapons that we had been given, and my desert coloured uniform was worn out on several places. I was quite dirty myself, and several parts of my clothes were stained with the crimson liquid that I had become so used to over the years during which I had been fighting. My black hair had quite an amount of sand on it, and the rest of me was quite dirty with dirt and other stuff. I made a mental note to take a bath or a shower as soon as I had the time to take one.

"Ace?" I heard the female voice ask again. This time I did turn around to greet whoever I had been rudely ignoring before.

"I'm sorry, I was thinking quite deeply and I didn't notice you Vivi" I said as I greeted my childhood best friend.

She laughed. "Oh, don't worry. I could guess as much" She said with a friendly tone of voice. "So how was it during this last mission Ace?" She then asked me.

"It was okay, we crushed those rebels today and we got back what we lost last time" I said with a tired but proud tone of voice. Yes, today we had managed to get a massive victory.

"I'm glad, thanks to you we have managed to advance so much. I don't know what we would do without such a brave commander like you" Vivi then said. This time I didn't answer, and instead I limited myself to smile at her in quite a tired way.

"Well Ace, I will leave you now. I have to talk to the other generals now to discuss our next steps. I will tell you what we decide once our reunion is finished, but something tells me that this is going to be quite long" Vivi then said. "By the way, your superior, Blackbeard, will probably want to see you soon" Vivi said before turning around. "I'll see you soon Ace!" She said with a happy tone of voice just before she walked away.

"Good luck at that meeting!" I quickly told her before I started walking again, this time towards my room. I wanted to get clean as soon as possible. All of the dirt and sand that I had on me was starting to get me nervous. I then wondered what my superior, Blackbeard, would want to tell me now. "It will probably be about next mission" I thought as I continued walking through the seemingly eternal corridors.


	2. Chapter 2

Here is chapter two! I hope that you like it! :D Thank you all for all the favs and the alerts, you guys are awesome =D Well, enjoy this chapter and please comment with your thoughs, it would be very much appreciated ^_^ This is a collab story that I have done with xLiliumxAricox! her profile is: http:/xliliumxaricox. / please check her out! (link without spaces)

Disclaimer: We don't own One Piece, Oda does. We do however own the plot of this story.

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Blackbeard's POV:

One hour. In one hour I will see how much my soldier I've worked so hard to train has grown. Portgas D. Ace. He's been a real help. Take for example, the recent victory we had. I'm positive he played a big part in that. All these years, I was surprised to see that Monkey D. Garp decided to take him in, but I'm glad he did. It would've been such a shame to waste his abilities on something like the rebel army. I knew he trusted me and respected me, like the other fools. But you can't blame them. I've held this charade for many years. No one has suspected anything. On the outside I was your normal, loving leader, but all that was a well-planned lie. The scariest betrayal is one you can't see, am I wrong? After three more battles, the leader, Cobra, would sign the land over to me. Yes in due time, my plans will be complete.

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Luffy's POV:

Luffy's POV

"Let's get this meeting started, shall we?" Father said. I looked around the table. Right next to me was a redhead named Kid. He's a good guy, but he has a terrible temper and cussing habit. He is the Commander of the Weapon's Unit. His division creates weapons for the rebel army. In his division is a man named Killer. I don't recall why, but the man is always wearing a mask. Kid is a good companion, and he doesn't respect me one bit, then again, barely anyone does. The redhead is an excelled fighter, not as good as me, but amazing, nonetheless. He can reload a gun so fast, you can't see it and assume he has an endless amount of bullets. Guns are his weapon of choice, if you hadn't noticed.

Next to him was Nami, the Commander of the Navigation Unit. She can sense when a storm is held, what point we can attack from to not get caught in a tornado or something, and she also manages the funds for our supplies. Not the best fighter, but she can hold her own. I try to keep my distance from her mostly because she PMSes 24/7. Even the slightest thing can make her angry.

On her left was this pervert named Franky. He always wears a speedo for no apparent reason, no matter what season it is. He is an engineer, and can fix anything in a matter of minutes, such is his unit. His weapon of choice, actually, is himself. I have no idea when we got the technology to do so, but he made himself a cyborg. There are a ton of gizmos and buttons I want to try, but he never lets me. The meanie. Anyway, the strangest thing about him is that he runs on cola, of all things. How he managed to create a system that runs on a drink is beyond me.

Then there was this awesome person named Usopp. He's a liar, but he's good at it, but that isn't his specialty. He's our Sniper Commander, or as he puts it, 'Sogeking.' That part isn't a lie. He is the king of snipers. I've never seen a better one. His attacks are one of the first, either after Dad or the enemy declares war. A good man, although he's quite cowardly. I like him a lot, he was one of the first people Bonney and I met when we were old enough to join here. We've been friends ever since.

Skipping Bonney, there was Roronoa Zoro. He was in charge of the Swordsman Unit. He basically teaches new recruits how to fight, and he aims to be the best swordsman in the world. The style of swords he uses is quite rare: Three Swords Style. He has an odd hair color, green. His skills are impressive, and I hope he achieves his dream, but there's one problem. The dude has no sense of direction. He can't even find his way around the rebel headquarters, despite being here for so many years.

Next to him was Trafalgar Law, the head of the Medical Division. He was an oddball, always smirking, but he was cool. A trustworthy guy. He had black hair, sideburns, and a goatee. The doctor always carried around a sword, which was super long. However, he usually used his fists in a battle. He never got along with Kid; they always bickered whenever they were in the same room. An excellent surgeon on top of everything. He always healed his patients, in fact, I don't know one person who died when receiving his treatment. In his division was Tony Tony Chopper. The weirdest thing about this doctor was that he was a reindeer. He was the successor of Doctor Kureha. She was the previous head of the Medical Division until she retired and Law took over.

Then there was Brook. He was so skinny; the dude was practically a skeleton. On top of his head was the best hairdo in the world. An afro. He played music very well, and was the musician at funerals and such. It'd be kind of stupid to call him the Head of the Musical Division, but he pretty much is. Don't ask why we have that sort of division, we just do. He was always in a tux, asking to see girls' panties. Usually, you'd catch him drinking tea or walking with his cane. The coolest part about the cane was that in reality, it was actually a sword. He always cheered me up when I was down. But no matter how hard he tried, I doubt he'd be able to get me out of my depression about my father's dying.

Next to him was this girl named Nico Robin. She can decipher everything and anything. The brunette is the main reason we've been able to crack all the government's codes. He mother was also a victim of the war, but also a hero. Because of Nico Olivia, we found out how the government's system worked ten years back. Robin is the leader of the Archeologist Division. She knows the answer to everything and is an experienced fighter. I respect her a lot, but I try not to bug her too much, less I feel Nami's wrath.

Then there was Sanji. He was the best cook in the universe. I loved his food that he works so hard to make, but he's a womanizer, thus, Nami, Robin, and Bonney were his top priority. He preferred to fight man to man, but he is talented in long-range guns. He has blonde hair, which he covers one eye with, a curly eyebrow, and is almost always wearing black. He and I get along quite nicely, but he gets testy whenever I try to sneak into the kitchen and try to get a bite to eat.

On his left was Hawkins. He's kind of like a predictor, but he is never able the figure out the outcomes in each battle. Nonetheless he was able to predict many ambushes we've avoided. Not once have I seen him change his expression. On his head was long flowing blonde hair. He is the Head of the Unnamed Division. It's not supposed to exist, and nobody except the captains and people in that division know about it. That's why we've been able to dupe the government's plans for the past six years. With no one the wiser. This is one of the main reasons no one in his group ever goes out to battle.

And that sums up our eleven commanders. I should probably be listening to what father is saying instead of recapping old memories. Oh well. I think I look like I'm paying attention. It's probably not important, anyways. The first fifteen minutes of every meeting is introductions. The real meeting starts right about, now.

"Thank you all for coming here. Now, I know we've suffered a recent loss, but that does not mean we can give up." True, we were forced to retreat, mostly because the government bribed people we thought to be our allies, in short, they flat-out cheated. "Our next attack will be held in Yuba. It's where Alubarna's supplies are held. However, its defenses are weak. If we use this opportunity to cut their supplies, Alubarna will be vulnerable to attack." My dad is such a good public speaker. "And this time," he paused for a moment. "I will be joining in battle." I think my heart stopped the moment he said those words.

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Ace's POV:

It took me quite an amount of time to get to the room that I almost lived at. Things were just so far away inside this place, the amount of time that you could spend going from one place to another was shocking. I was already tired of walking with so much dirt and dried blood on my uniform and on my skin. I hated feeling and being like this, however I would never admit it to anyone. I could feel how exhausted my bones, my muscles... how exhausted all my body was. Physically and mentally, and on top of that I would surely have to see my superior, Blackbeard, soon. He was a nice man and hadn't done anything bad to me, but talking to him just was too tiring for everyone, and he had a strange way of being. However and even though he was a strange man he had been loyal to Arabasta's government for a very long time and was a good superior, always giving up his time and his life for the sake of the government and our strong and fair army. I didn't think that he was married or had any children, unlike many of the soldiers, commanders and generally people of his age, which also was something quite strange, but not impossible to see. There were so many kinds of people around here after all.

It was a very hot day, like it always was around here. However even though I had spent quite a lot of my childhood at this country I still was as exhausted as always day after day. I quickly brushed off some swear that was accumulated, between the dirt and the dried up blood, on my forehead with my free hand, managing to feel visibly better when I got the layer of liquid out of my head, allowing me to feel slightly less tired. I smiled when I remembered the small encounter with Vivi. I had been quite some time without seeing her, and it had been nice to see her before, even though it had been for such a long time. She was always such a great friend. My smile soon turned into a more strange to see grin when I thought about the last words that she had said.

"So we will see each other soon" I muttered, quite happy. It would be nice to hang out with her when we both weren't too busy due what we dedicated ourselves to do for the country that we loved.

I continued walking forwards, making sure that all the exhaustion that I felt was invisible to anyone that saw me. I was quite respected around here, and I felt like it was my duty to give confidence to the other people, no matter their rank, a sense of victory and of pride by showing myself strong and ready to fight for what I loved at any given time.

It was then when I noticed that I was finally in front of my room's door, god knows how much time after I had started to walk towards it when I had arrived to the headquarters where I lived at.

"At last" I muttered as I unlocked the door and gently opened it.

I entered the room as soon as the door was unlocked, and after I took several steps into the room I immediately dropped on the floor, right besides the bed, the combat helmet that I had to wear and that was part of the uniform and that I was completely used to. I didn't really care where I left it right now; I would put it in order later. Right now I just wanted to rest for a bit before taking the shower that I longed for so much.

I walked towards what was my bed and I immediately let myself fall on top of it. I took several deep breaths as I lied on top of it, staring at the ceiling and with a strange sense of peace inside me. I spent some time like this, resting, until I decided that it was enough and that I should shower myself to get rid of all of the dirt that I had on me.

I got up from the bed and I started taking off my uniformed camouflage jacket, that had some smell of blood on it, and I placed it on top of the bed. Next I took off my sand coloured t-shirt and also left it quite neatly this time on top of the bed, right besides the jacket. I had the luck of having a room all for myself due to several reasons over here, and I was quite grateful for it. My last roommate and friend, Sabo, had probably died in combat several months ago, and that had led to a room all for me. Until now I hadn't been assigned to share room with anyone, which was good. It had been quite a shock when I had been told that Sabo had died in combat, and it had really affected me for some time, but I was sure that I would make the murderers, the rebels, pay for it.

I was now just wearing my camouflage trousers and my combat boots, and when I was about to take the latter off I heard several knocks on the door. I walked towards it to open it, almost cursing beneath my breath whoever had decided to call me at this time, just before I was about to take a shower.

I opened the door, and I immediately saw a fellow soldier that I hadn't talked much to and that had my same rank as me.

"Colonel Portgas D. Ace, General Blackbeard requested to see you in an hour's time" He said as he looked at me from head to toe, literally.

"Very well" I immediately replied. The man stared at me for three more seconds before turning around and going away.

I closed the door as soon as he had disappeared, wondering why in hell he had looked like _that_ at me and just proceeded to take off my combat boots, trousers and pants. I quickly made my way towards the shower, entered it and quickly turned the water on, not bothering to change it to hot water and instead letting the cold water go down through all of my body. I breathed in and out quite relaxed, enjoying the feeling of the water going down through all of my body and cleaning the dirt and the blood that now started to disappear.

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Dragon's POV:

I had been sitting at the chair that I always sat at during meetings for quite a while now, I didn't know exactly how much, but had ranged from a few minutes to two hours. I always came early to meetings, not only because it was my duty as the leader, but also out of my own personal conviction that told me that I should be the first one to me there to show strength to all the members and the other commanders. It was essential. What kind of leader would I be if I arrived late or later than all the other members? Some would argue that it would have a 'dramatic effect', but really, what kind of leader would I be? I had been leading the rebellion for a very long time; I didn't even remembered how long it had been. However I hadn't been the person to declare this war though; I had done that together with my wife, who now rests in peace, but she deserved more, so much more.

So many things have changed since then, since I was a child and I challenged my father when he ordered me to join Arabasta's army and I ran away from home, since I met the girl that would become my wife one day when I was a kid too, since I fell in love with her, that was quite soon after meeting her, since I founded with my wife the rebel army and since we 'declared war' on Arabasta's government that was full of corruption, decadency, death and lies. So many things had changed since then, our aim was still the same, or mine was at least. However I knew that by now due to the prolonged time that this civil war had been going on for many people that had joined were just in this to avenge their families and loved ones, that although was a noble reason it still wasn't the one that started this civil war. The enemy thinks the same thing too. There are some noble people on the other side; however the great majority of possibilities of changing sides have disappeared. I would dare to say that all of them have disappeared.

After my wife died, so soon after the birth of my only child, Luffy, I felt so sad and alone; so incredibly sad, depressed and alone. The only thing that helped me go forwards was my son Luffy, that although was a bit goofy at times and was very different form the other kids (all us "D.'s" were quite different from others after all) he had quickly become the centre of my life. The rebel army was very important to me, almost as important as him, but if something were to happen to him I would be able to give up everything to ensure that he was safe and alive. Luffy had become the centre of my life as soon as he had been born, at first with his mother and after her death the only centre of my life (followed very closely by the rebel army and the civil war of course). He was a fine young man right now, as strong as someone could be and with very strong ideals. So strong that I knew that he would be able to control that "spirit" that some old legends talked about, that "haki" that was mentioned in some old texts and legends, if it existed that is.

The second man that had become quite a leader of this whole side with my wife and me had been Gol D. Roger, and that had been before Luffy had been born and while my wife had still been alive. He had been a brilliant man, a very brave man with lots of bad things about him but full of great things and qualities. He had helped us move forwards and have some very important victories against the government. He had been executed about twenty or twenty one years ago, I never was really sure or remembered correctly the date. It had been a very sad day for all of us, and the most interesting part of it was that even though he was so strong he had given himself to the government and immediately after this it had become known that Monkey D. Garp, my father and the famous hero of the army, had 'captured' him. However he hadn't given himself in just because he was tired of living or of fighting against the tyranny of the government. No, the reason was deeper and more meaningful than that. He had a deathly disease that would end his life at some point, and when he gave himself in he was close to death. He had said that he preferred to die a death like that than one where he was in bed without being able to do anything at all. His death had quite an impact on people though, and instead of making our side seem like it was losing it had made lots of people decided to join the rebel army or just create their own group to fight against the government.

The last thing that I heard about Roger was that his wife or lover, I didn't really know, had his child some time after the execution, and that she died while giving birth. Apparently my father, Garp, took care of the child as soon as this happened, just like Roger apparently asked him to do. I wonder what happened to that child after that. Knowing Garp he surely pushed him to join the army.

These days I was completely focused on the war that we were fighting. It never stopped, and it hadn't stopped in all the years that it had been going on. I was just focused day and night on the war, excepting the many moments that I passed with my son. I had tried to avoid him noticing, but he had ended up noticing though. He had ended up noticing the sickness that I had, that made me have strong cough fits during night time at best. I knew that it was the very same one that Roger had had. The one that had killed him and that would also kill me. That was maybe why I had recently tried to seem as strong as ever and I had tried more than ever to maintain myself as active as I always was. However I knew that the time would eventually come.

I knew that Luffy wanted me to stop taking my job so seriously, to stop rest and get better, to stop letting my quest for freedom take my life. What he didn't know though, or maybe he did, was that I was very unwell. So unwell that I knew that things would never be the same in a few month's time. I just hoped that he wasn't too affected by my death. I knew that if I rested like he wanted me to I would probably live a few years more if I was lucky, and that would be wonderful. I love my son with all my heart, he has always been the centre of my life and spending more time with him would be a gift from the very heavens. However I must continue going on for him, my wife, for Roger, his wife and even his own son. I must continue going on to make everyone free. Every single inhabitant of this old and proud nation that is being destroyed by the corrupted and inhuman leaders of the government and that only spread lies. I must continue going on to make all of them free, but I keep going on to ensure that Luffy will be free one day. That he will be able to choose what he will be and what he will do with his life. That he will not only be free from the corrupted and inhuman leaders of the government but also from the legacy that he will have to stand and carryon his shoulders obligatorily, even if he wants to or he doesn't want to.

The war now isn't for freedom. The original aims have been forgotten, and right now there are only sides. No good or bad, just that: sides. That is why I must go on with the plan that I want to complete after my death, that won't be too far away. I must go on with it to ensure not only Luffy's freedom, but also everyone else's. I have already given 'it' to Ivankov. He will know what to do after all. He had been a good friend during all of these past years after all. So good that he will be the only one that will fulfil my last wish and order, the only one that will fulfil my last petition.

When I die I know that Luffy will be elected or chosen as the next leader of the rebel army. He is my son, the second in command and not only one of the strongest people around here but also the one that has a mentality very similar to mine, almost identical. However he is not too respected here due to his goofiness and easy way of being. During the last years ambitious people have joined the rebel army, and while they will be loyal to me, due to my strength and the numerous time that I have defeated them, as soon as Luffy gets chosen as the leader these will try to get rid of him so that they are the leaders. I know that none of the commanders will tolerate this, not only due to their loyalty to me or how they are but also because of them being such good friends with Luffy. However things will get difficult for him when I die, and not only will these hinder the whole rebel movement but they will even be able to destroy it completely and make it disappear. They may make the government win, unconsciously or consciously. There must be one or two traitors in here, there always are, just like there are several in between the government's ranks. Things will change a lot, I can see it, and in the end it will all be up to Luffy. Luffy will be free to choose.

I notice my typical grin appear in my face as soon as I see Luffy enter the room with is friend Bonney, one of the commanders. Yes, that is my son. I remain silent as Luffy sits beside me and as two complete hours pass as the other commanders start coming in. When they are all in I get up, indicating that the meeting was to start now.

"Let's get this meeting started, shall we" I said.

All of the commanders looked at me with full attention. Luffy did also look at me like that, at least for some moments. I knew after a minute had passed that he wasn't really paying any attention. It may seem like so to the others, but I know my son very well. I soon start talking about what has been going on recently and doing the usual introduction to the meeting that I always do during the first fifteen minutes.

Once the introduction is finished (and Luffy starts paying attention again) I start with the main and most important part of the meeting, the one that no one knows and that will shock all of them, especially Luffy. I know that he won't like this one bit, however this has to be done.

"Thank you all for coming here. Now, I know we've suffered a recent loss, but that does not mean we can give up" I say with confidence as I talked about the betrayal of our so called allies on last battle and what it all caused. With my words I know that everyone slowly recovers their confidence and their will to fight, no matter what has happened to them. "Our next attack will be held in Yuba. It's where Alubarna's supplies are held. However its defences are weak. If we use this opportunity to cut their supplies, Alubarna will be vulnerable to attack" I say with confidence again. This time I stop for a moment before continuing. I can feel all of their eyes on me. I take a breath before continuing. "And this time," I say, pausing again for a bit "I will be joining battle" I say. I look at Luffy, and see his face full of shock. Oh, Luffy. I hope that you can cope with what will come now. I know that you will be able to. It all rests on your shoulders now. Be free, be whatever you want. That is what you were meant to be after all.


	3. Chapter 3

Here is chapter three! We hope that you all enjoy it ^_^ Thank you all for all the favs and alerts! We'ew glad that you liked the story so far =D

Disclaimer: We don't own One Piece, Oda does. We do however own the plot of this story.

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Luffy's POV:

I stared at my father with shock. I didn't know what to think or how to react. For years he hadn't gone out to battle (except in some counted occasions where it was absolutely unavoidable). It was necessary that he remained alive. He was the spirit that kept the rebellion, the revolution, alive. He was essential, a key and irreplaceable piece in the revolutionary army. Why had he decided to…? Why had he? It was completely beyond me! I had seen how he had been during the past weeks, and I just knew that he had seen me looking at him! He was weak, and I knew that he knew this! He was in no condition to fight, and yet…

The room remained silent for some more moments. No one knew what to say or how to react now. I knew that the others were surprised, but definitely not because of the same reasons that had made me be surprised at father's decision. The room was in almost complete silence the only sounds that were heard being our heavy breathing and Hawking's cards as their owner shuffled them and laid them on the table. It was quite an uncomfortable silence, however it was my father who broke it when he started to speak again.

"The attack to Yuba will begin in two days, it is essential that we do it as soon and quickly as possible and as prepared enough" He said, as he looked at us. "This is all that I wanted to say, I will pass any further orders to all of you if needed. Thank you for attending" He then said, as he remained sitting down.

"Very well" I heard Zoro immediately say, as he fiddled a bit with one of his three swords. I could still see that shocked expression on his face, but this shock had ended up second to his undying loyalty.

Soon all of the other commanders started saying the same or very similar things to the one that Zoro had said. I was even more shocked by this. How come that they didn't say anything at all about this? How come that they all accepted this so easily? No one had a single doubt in their minds? Why was this?

It was then, after some seconds, that I noticed that they were all looking at me with probably questioning looks. It took me a moment to figure out why was this. They were waiting for my approval, and I faced a serious doubt on what to answer now. I didn't agree with what my father had just decided. I didn't and I would never agree with it, despite this I was the second in command of the revolutionary army. I was the second one in command, and as such I had to support all of the leaders decisions, that was why I was the second in command, to support these decisions and to carry them out, and what impression would I give if I said what I thought? No, I am not able to lie, and being caught lying in this situation would be worse than saying this.

"Father, are you sure about this?" I said, shocking all of the people in the room.

"Why wouldn't I be sure of this? It is my decision to do this" He said with a look of deception on his face.

"I know that, but you are the heart and soul of the revolution and the revolutionary army! What would be of us if you fell in battle?" I said with quite a nervous and slightly hurt tone of voice. It was then when I noticed the doubtful looks that were painted on some of the commanders inside the room, particularly Nami. It was then when I realised that the same doubt that I had thought of had gone through their minds, but why hadn't they said anything about it then?

"What kind of leader would I be if I didn't fight alongside my friends and allies, alongside my comrades?" My father then asked aloud.

I remained silent for some moments, not knowing what to reply to this. "What would be of us without you?" I then asked aloud.

It was then when I saw a hurt look on my father's face, and just after I noticed this I saw in the faces of the other commanders how they supported immediately and unconsciously my father. Was I wrong?

"Luffy, my son, as the second one in command it is your duty to support my decisions, and you know this. To do otherwise can be considered as something proper of someone not worthy of having this rank, a traitor or worse" He then said with a harsh tone of voice. "On next battle I will fight, and this is why I will ask you to support my decision not only here and now but also in the future" He then added with his typical strong and decisive tone of voice.

I gritted my teeth and looked at another point in the room then. I didn't like his decision one bit, and yet what he had said was true. I was the second one in command, his son and very possibly his 'heir'. It was my duty to support him as much as possible, and as much as it hurt I knew that I would have probably made the same decision if I was in his position. His support in battle was essential not only because of his tremendous ability to fight but also for morale, and this morale would be cut down if I showed doubts about our leader. Yes he was right. I had to support his decisions since it was I had to do in my position. He was the leader, and I was the second one in command, not the first one in command,

"Very well, I respect and support your decision, father" I then said with the best tone of voice that I could manage. I wasn't lying now, and I knew that I sounded truthful and honest to anyone inside the room except to those that knew me very well. However I had no intention of letting this die. I would make sure to talk about this with him later.

My father nodded, satisfied. "You are all dismissed" He then said, causing all of us to get up from our chairs. I looked at him for a moment before turning around and going out of this room, deep in thought and with a strange feeling in my chest that I recognised as fear and nervousness. Hawkings hadn't had a single doubt with agreeing with my father's decision, and I knew what this meant, but I wasn't completely sure. I had a strange feeling about all of this, and it wasn't good at all.

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Ace's POV

I entered the room that had been Blackbeard's office for a very long time. It was quite dark and had a strange aura inside it that was created by the lack of windows inside the room. The walls were full of bookshelves with old and new books that had all been probably read, and at the center of the room there was a big wooden table that was where Blackbeard was sitting at, right in front of the entrance door. Opposite to where he was currently sitting at there was a smaller chair, that was where I usually sat at.

"You wanted to see me sir?" I asked Blackbeard with my most respectful tone of voice.

"Yes Colonel Ace, please sit down" He immediately replied as he gestured me to sit down on the other chair.

I nodded respectfully and sat down on the chair, wondering why he had requested to see me. Was there going to be another mission soon to stop the advances of the revolutionary army?

"I've called you here for a very important reason. Now, our enemy will try to attack where we are at our weakest. Yuba. However, we must be prepared. That is why I'm appointing you to be in charge of this battle. Do you think you can handle that?" Blackbeard kept a straight face. I hope he didn't notice the small flicker in my eyes, even if it happened only for a moment. Sure, I had a high position, but I've never been personally asked to lead people in battle. It wasn't my style. I preferred to be one of those anonymous people, just fighting. It was too much pressure to do otherwise. Well I guess I should just accept it and move on. I mean, how bad could it be? It's not like Monkey D. Dragon is going to fight or anything. That man held a high position for a reason. On the few occasions that he _does _fight, he's a monster. I once heard he took down over 50 men single-handedly. Yikes. I'd hate to be his enemy. But what are the chances that he'd actually fight? I accepted the task by nodding. Blackbeard just kept saying how proud he was of me, and how much he looks forward to my work in the future. Over. And. Over. Only in different wording. It was getting on my nerves.

"Well, you are dismissed." I nodded and left his room. I couldn't help but notice how his smile seemed a bit _too_ nice. It was kind of creepy. Almost as if he was lying through his teeth. Now, what am I thinking? I'm just being paranoid. There's no way he'd betray us.

As I exited the room, I saw that guy from earlier. The one who looked at me weird. I thanked the Lord I was headed the opposite direction. He just gave me the creeps. With good reason. Not watching ahead of me, I failed to notice the person that I ran into at full force. I rubbed my forehead and was about to apologize when I saw who the person I bumped into was. Marco, one of my close friends. He was a great guy, and he was there for me when Sabo died, but GOD, he's annoying. Well, I annoy him too, I guess. Anyways, I helped him up and said 'sorry.'

"That's the third time this week you've bumped into me. Where's your mind at, Ace?" Marco said jokingly. But what he didn't know was that it was true. I seemed so aloof lately. Why? I sensed something big was going to happen sometime later. Not now, not in the future battle, but in a while, something will happen. But what will it be? I took a look at Marco, the friend I've had for so long. He had short, pineapple-shaped blonde hair, half-lidded eyes, a cocky smirk that never fails to get on my nerves, and he wore the traditional Arabastian uniform. It was impossible to notice, but he couldn't cry. Not because he was too manly or anything, he was just born with the inability to cry. It was really sad. He couldn't express his feelings when he wanted to. But he didn't seem to mind. Next to Vivi, he knew me best. And he worried just as equally about me.

"Nothing, just thinking is all," I answered him. He gave me an odd look, and then broke into laughter. I kind of wanted to be offended, because it was quite obvious he was laughing at me.

"You? Thinking? Oh that's the best I've heard all week!" Marco says this because I have a tendency to fight and take action without thinking. It's not a good reputation, and I can't help it. But what really irks me is that it's exactly how my late father would act. He would always act on impulse and stand up for his friends. It was almost worth puking about, in my opinion. I don't want to act or be anything near or close to what that horrid man was.

"So, apparently, I'm leading in battle," I explained what Blackbeard had told me earlier.

"Sucks to be you, you hate doing that!" he exclaimed. It kind of sucked to have a nosy friend who knew you inside and out, but made fun of you for it. I really didn't want to lead us in the next battle. Technically, it would give me a temporary higher position than Vivi, but nonetheless. It wasn't my kind of thing, but what choice did I have?


	4. Chapter 4

Here is chapter four! Thank you all for all of the favs, alerts and reviews! They were all very appreciated! You guys rock! ^_^ Remember that this is a collab story that I have done with xLiliumxAricox! her profile is: http:/xliliumxaricox. / please check her out! (link without spaces)

Disclaimer: We don't own One Piece, Oda does. However we do own the plot of this story.

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Ace's POV:

I took a deep breath in, filling my lungs with the fresh air that allowed me to keep on living. I slowly breathed out, just to immediately breathe in again. In a few hours the air wouldn't be so clean and fresh, but soaked with the heavy smell of death, blood and gunpowder. I was stationed besides the rest of the troops that I had been assigned to command, and I was sitting besides Vivi, who used to have always a role that was quite important in battles, another general and the colonel that I had known all of my life, Garp. We were all currently at a tent where we were planning the strategy that we were going to use in this battle. We had been all day stationed here and patrolling the city of Yuba, that was so important to us.

It was extremely hot, and I was willing to bet that I could fry an egg on top of a rock outside just with the heat quite easily. Even Vivi seemed to be tired too. You could easily tell just be looking at the troops that most of the soldiers were unmotivated and tired, even though we had had quite a big victory on the last battle they didn't feel exactly like fighting. Some parts of the troops had been assigned to patrol the city. We hadn't managed to get any information from the rebels, and all of us generals and colonels agreed that it was important to maintain our positions secure in the town. The revolutionary army was known for the strong appeal that it had to many of the citizens, as surprising as it seemed, and we didn't want to be attacked by surprise from the town or have the very citizens of the town attack us.

"The rebels will surely attack us from this position. It is currently the place where it will be easier to attack us from. That is why I suggest placing ourselves in this place to ensure our victory" I heard Vivi say with a decisive tone of voice. "What do you think of this strategy, Ace?" She then asked me.

"I agree with you there, but we should still place a portion of us in this place, at the entrance of the city, in case the revolutionary army comes from behind. You know that they have lots of collaborators across all of the country and quite a portion of the population supports them. We can't afford to be attacked by surprise" I quickly said.

"I don't think that that is really necessary, Colonel Ace" I soon heard Akainu, the other general present, say. "An attack like that will surely not come by them. We must concentrate our forces on a direct frontal attack so they are defeated easily. The best way to do this is forget about secret conspiracies and go ahead with an attack" He then added.

"I agree that a direct frontal attack is necessary, but we need to be sure that we aren't attacked by surprise or that we don't fall into a trap" Vivi said, defending me.

"We won't fall into a trap" Akainu said quite simply.

"Are you forgetting the strategies used by the revolutionary army so often? They don't use the conventional strategies that you say all of the time. They have caused many troubles for us and unnecessary deaths of our troops with guerrilla warfare tactics and surprise attacks. Going straight ahead against them, when we don't even know when and where they might appear is suicide" I said seriously and even with a furious undertone. I couldn't believe what Akainu was saying

Akainu snorted, looking away for a moment. "You're paranoid. Going straight ahead and having a powerful attack is our best defence" He quickly replied.

"Our spies inside their ranks couldn't get hold of any useful information from them, Dragon is an intelligent man and because so many of our spies were discovered we haven't got a single clue on what they might do. We just know that they are going to attack this town, and nothing else. You are going to go straight into a trap. Underestimating the revolutionary army made us suffer many defeats in the past" I quickly said.

"But paranoia will get us nowhere, _Colonel_ Ace. They can attack us from anywhere, and you know it. We will go ahead with my strategy" he said. "My strategy is what will get us victory!" Akainu then finished saying with a shout.

"You will not see reason, will you? Can't you see that we'll go straight into a trap with your strategy?" I said, shouting at the other general.

"He was appointed as the commander of this operation by Blackbeard, Akainu. You cannot decide the strategy that will be used in the operation all by yourself" Garp suddenly said.

"He is just a Colonel, if he isn't a General yet it is for a reason. He also has commanded the troops just twice before too. He knows nothing of strategy, following his idea _is_ the real suicide. I don't give a damn about what that Blackbeard says; he doesn't know a shit about this anyways. We will follow my strategy, and this is the end of the question. It is an _order_ Colonel Ace" Akainu said with a harsh tone of voice.

I grit my teeth, cursing the man in front of me in all the ways that I knew and just nodded, being unable to do anything else. We were going to go into a trap, and I knew it. I knew that Garp expected it too; he knew and had told me several times to not underestimate the revolutionary army. If we did that we would meet our deaths in the blink of an eye. Dragon was a very intelligent man; he knew how we usually fought against them and how we would react. He knew how to make any battle turn to his favour, and none of his commanders were idiots either; this had been demonstrated over and over again over time.

Akainu grinned in a cruel way. "Inform the troops, we will follow my strategy for this battle" He said before he went out of the room.

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Luffy's POV

In only around two hours, we would fight. I would fight. My friends would fight. But most importantly, my father would fight. I knew I had worried my friends at my response to his decision and the fact that I seemed distant from them. Nami asked if I was okay on a regular basis, but as usual, I chose not to respond. I'm glad that Zoro talked her into letting me be until the battle was over, because I really needed the space and time to think. I'll have to thank him for that later. Our strategy: to enter from all directions. Father was sure that they would expect us to enter from various entrances that were placed around the city, but what Hawkins wisely suggested that we used one of our secret entrances that we've used for the last couple of years to take their supplies, but not too much to arouse suspicion. His other suggestion was that our strongest fighters come from above the city. An aerial attack. Genius. Obviously, we chose the second one.

I was currently in one of our helicopters; Bonney, Kid, Zoro, and Killer were in it as well. We were loaded with ammunition, Kid's unit supplying us. Our units were on the ground, distracting the army, while we sneaked an attack. It was pure genius. Sometimes I want to hug Hawkins for being so smart. I really wanted to kiss him when he convinced my father to go in a helicopter as well. Only Nami, Brook, Usopp, Law, and Robin were with our and their units on the ground. That left the people in my helicopter, Franky, Sanji, and Father in the other helicopter. Hawkins, as usual, wasn't fighting. The sound of our vehicle was deafening, but it didn't bother me. What I was anxious about was my father. He had really chosen to fight. I could do nothing about it. Not when we were so close to the battlefield.

I kept a straight face on, occasionally looking at the scenery that we passed over. It was mostly desert due to the constant fighting in the country. I always felt the desert was a shield, covering our mistakes and wrongdoings. However, only a gust of wind will reveal our tragedies, our errors, and all the chaos of previous years. It was saddening. We've done so many horrible things, but we couldn't fix them. Neither side is suffering as much as the country is. The people who don't fight. The people who try to stop it. They end up being killed in crossfire. And we couldn't do a damn thing about it. Well, no point grieving about it now, we were almost at Yuba.

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Ace's POV:

Time passed, and it was some time after the strategy and each individual step that the troops would have to take were communicated to each them that the revolutionary army appeared. Helicopters that were patrolling the area immediately communicated this to us. By then we were, of course, in our respective set positions and ready to follow and carry out the strategy set by Akainu that I continued doubting. I had been ordered in the end to command a division of mechanised infantry, quite close to the similar division that Vivi was commanding. We were behind the main group of tanks and slightly to one side of the battlefield, prepared to go forwards when it was time to attack the rebels. In total we had four divisions to work with in this battle, each composed of a variety of brigades in it.

The revolutionary army was approximating us with tanks and armed people right at the place that Akainu had said that they would. I could almost hear him saying from the distance 'I told you'. They were organised in quite a typical way, but it was plain obvious that they weren't that well organised. They were approaching us in plain light, camouflaged with the desert but still slightly visible. I felt that there was something wrong. The way in which they were approaching us... the way in which they were organised... It was too obvious, too easy to guess. This surely couldn't be what they had planned for such a big battle, right?

The tanks started firing, and soon the sounds of numerous explosions on both sides started to be heard, followed by quite a number of shots made by the soldiers on both sides. We advanced easily, like a knife cutting through butter. It was obvious that we had started with the upper hand and were currently winning. I commanded my division to advance; like Akainu had said that I should, and went forwards, leading all of the men that were behind and besides me forwards impressively motivated. Vivi did the same thing with the one that she commanded. Both armies clashed, making quite a number of men fall dead in that instant.

The divisions of the rebels directly opposite to us were quite recognisable from other battles. I could easily spot all of the commanders, not the ten of them but a part of that number. They had quite a number of tanks, and they still had somehow managed to maintain their positions. We were still quite close to the city, that was directly behind us, and this was quite a danger since we didn't want any damage being done to the city or its inhabitants (or to the supplies that were there). They were fighting ferociously, and so were we. This was surely going to be a long battle, but if we kept attacking like this and there wasn't a trap we would win this battle.

I soon started fighting and firing my gun against men from the revolutionary army, following step by step the strategy spun by Akainu. This continued for what seemed to be a few hours, until suddenly a big explosion was heard from the city. I turned around, and saw that the outer walls of the city had exploded, and coming through them were an enormous number of troops from the revolutionary army, quickly surrounding us. Bombs started being fired at us from behind, something done most probably by the sniper or bomb division of the revolutionary army with its usual deathly accuracy. Our side that had been winning the battle until now started suffering heavy losses and started falling into chaos. I then noticed the group of helicopters that was in the air, above the edge of the city. How could have I missed it? How could have we all missed it?

I mentally cursed Akainu as I realised that this had been what the rebels had been planning all along and that if I didn't do anything right now to organise an attack against the other part of the rebel army (that was bigger than the one that we had been fighting at the start) we would unavoidably lose and lose too many men. Our carefully organised army was thrown into confusion as more and more men started to die. The army behind us came in contact with us and this only created greater confusion in our army and the divisions, brigades and men fighting right now. It wasn't planned. It was a disaster. A disaster caused by Akainu's lack of preparation and strategy.

I looked to the army that was now behind us, and quickly managed to recognise the commanders of some of the other divisions and the very leader of the revolutionary army, dragon. I cursed under my breath again the man and I communicated to the leader of the brigade that was closest to me and that still was organised, to follow me to behind, quickly explaining my plan to them that would allow us to make quite a number of our army survive, greater than if we stayed here on the very least and win the battle at the most.

We started to move, however I soon saw the young man leading a group of soldiers and some of the commanders that had been commanding the divisions at the start of the battle. No, not a young man, he seemed to be closer to being a boy. How old was he? His face was covered and so I couldn't recognise him, but by his height he seemed to still be quite young. How could someone so young be fighting? He certainly seemed to have quite a lot of skill.

He looked at me. "You'll go nowhere!" He shouted at me, his eyes sparkling with ferocity and deep motivation and will to protect his ideals. I was sure that that was the same way that I was feeling and looking like at the moment.

We clashed, and our men started to fight each other. More shots were heard followed by the sounds of metal clashing against metal, and as a result of this more bodies fell to the ground, drenching the sand further with more crimson. I was about to start fighting against him when Vivi suddenly appeared at my side, leading what probably was a battalion, and started fighting the boy.

"I'll take care of him! You finish what you wanted to do!" she shouted at me.

I didn't need anything more to be said to me. I continued leading my men and doing what I had told them that we would do. As we went towards the city, where the other part of the revolutionary army was mostly at, more and more soldiers of our side started following us, and quite soon I was leading (along other people) something comparable to a division. I grinned, deciding that I would save the greatest amount of people that I was able to by doing this and even win this battle with luck. Seconds passed, and we soon were facing the city and in front of the other part of the revolutionary army. I suddenly found myself facing the legendary Dragon, who had a strange grin on his face.

"You just lost this battle, son of Roger" he said with an amused tone of voice.

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Luffy's POV:

As expected, you could see that they focused on the tanks our comrades were in. They didn't even notice us. Just according to plan. Kid got into position and started shooting. Bonney gave the order for the pilot to drop the bomb. I didn't mention that she was the leader of our Bomb Division. It landed right on target. I could hear my father over the transmission telling us to jump. I kind of felt bad for Bonney, she was terrified of heights, although she would never admit it. You could see some soldiers rushing to the city. They were already too late. I jumped to the nearest building, after Killer had. Kid and Bonney followed us. I felt the adrenaline running through me. Unlike our fellow comrades, I aimed for the supplies first. I heard the wall collapse entirely, so phase one had been completed. Oh, victory tasted so sweet. I wondered what their faces looked like when they realized what was _really_ going on. When every supply in sight was gone, I made my way to lower ground to get some frontline action. I could feel the other commanders following behind me as we clashed with soldiers. I trusted that my friends would be okay, so I headed toward to who seemed to be the leader of this attack. His helmet was on, so I couldn't see his face well, but I noticed him giving orders before. He had a strong built and I wondered why he hadn't led any battles before. I hadn't recognized him one bit.

"You'll go nowhere!" I said strongly. I knew I had fierceness in my eyes. I won't lose this fight, even if I die. Our men met theirs in a matter of seconds. I was always being blocked, trying to attack the leader. My logic was this: take him out and the rest will follow. After striking down many enemies, I finally got to him. I raised my shotgun, but was surprised when a blue-haired girl got in my way. I groaned. Not another one. Every damn person seemed to want to get in my way.

"I'll take care of him! You finish what you wanted to do!" I heard her shout. Obviously, with my hood on, she had no idea who I was. She drew a sword and lunged at me. I threw my gun down, as I have always believed in a fair fight, and then drew mine. I didn't care if she was a woman or not, she still was wearing the general's uniform, meaning that she would be tough to beat. I blocked her attack quite quickly, and countered it. But she dodged it. She was an excellent swordswoman, but I bet if she went against Zoro, he'd beat her. My specialty is hand-to-hand combat, not weaponry. Our swords were against each other, now it was a battle of strength, which I won. She staggered back a bit before jumping back to put some distance between us. She seemed like a worthy opponent, so I decided to respect her.

"What is your name and rank?" it was rare for people who fought each other to ask that. It was a sign of respect. Even with her helmet on, I could imagine the surprise in her eyes. It seemed our reputation preceded us and she thought we were brutal thugs or something.

"Nefertari Vivi. I'm a general," she answered. So my observations were correct. She was a general. Vivi didn't lower her sword as she said that. "And you?"

I grinned under my hood. I threw it, along with my hat, behind my head. My hat was hanging by a string around my neck. For added dramatic effect, I shook my hair around a bit. "Monkey D. Luffy. Second in command," I spoke. I saw her frame freeze the moment I uttered my name. Of course I was well-known. Did you think it was a secret that Dragon had a son? I was known as Straw Hat Luffy, as fearsome as my father. I was happy that she still chose to fight me, despite knowing who I was. Most people would run with their tail between their legs the moment I told them who I was. She was strong-willed. I positioned my sword and waited for her to make a move. Vivi got the message and attacked me head on. I was smirking inwardly. This was going to be fun.


	5. Chapter 5

Here is chapter three! We hope that you all enjoy it ^_^ Thank you all for all the favs and alerts! We'ew glad that you liked the story so far =D

Disclaimer: We don't own One Piece, Oda does. We do however own the plot of this story.

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Luffy's POV

I noticed Father fighting the commander I was about to attack before Vivi intervened. I only hoped that he would be okay. What am I thinking? He's Monkey D. Dragon. He can fight one on one and win no problem. The thing was I noticed that the commander seemed to be getting angrier and angrier. I couldn't exactly hear what Father was saying to him, though. Too focused with their battle, I neglected to notice Vivi charging at me. I was wide open for attack. A fatal mistake, I noticed, when she plunged her sword through me.

It didn't hurt as much as I thought it would, but when she pulled out her sword, I immediately went on offense. She was lucky she was wearing a helmet, otherwise I'd have slice her head clean off. Instead, I just broke her helmet. Because of the dust, I never got a good look at her, but I noticed that she had lavender eyes, sky-blue hair, fair skin tinted from the sun, and a surprised look on her face. I flipped my sword and would have made a clear hole in her eye, but she dodged it, so I only got a deep cut on her face. I brought my right knee up and gave an axe kick to the face. She staggered back and held her now bleeding nose. Exactly who said swords were the only weapons allowed in battle?

Using the same leg, I gave a hard kick to her stomach, sending Vivi into a building. In the process, her sword flew in a direction far away. I'm lucky Sanji wasn't here; he'd kick my ass for hurting a lady. She slowly got up, and ran at me, readying a fist. I dodged it with ease, and then countered with a punch to the solar plexus, mouth, and I slammed my head against hers. I was known for having a hard head literally and figuratively. She looked pretty beaten up. Half the people who had enough nerve to fight me would've given up now, but she still chose to stand up. It was admirable. She was as reckless as I was. I could tell her senses were weakening, as when she threw a punch, it had power, but all I had to do was take a step back to dodge it. Grabbing her wrist, I spun her around a few times before launching her into the nearest building. Clenching her teeth, she stood up again. My feet moved to her location, where I held her by her throat. I shoved her into the ground again. She gasped and let out a cry of pain.

You may think I'm cruel by doing this and having no mercy, but you would be deadly mistaken. Compared to what they've done to us, this is like me flicking her. If I had mercy, I'd lose. That was the first thing my Father said to remember in battle. Don't have mercy, ever, because the enemy definitely won't have any to spare. After repeatedly smashing her head into the gravel, I took a good look at her. Her skin and hair were now tainted with her own blood; bruises could be easily seen on her face and body. I tossed her body like a rag doll and pulled out a gun. It'd be less pain for her.

"It's been a pleasure meeting you, Nefertari Vivi," I purposely added no emotion to my voice.

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Ace's POV:

I stared at Dragon, at loss. I hadn't expected him to be there, which had probably been quite a foolish thing to do, since this was quite an important battle for both of our sides. Truly I had had a feeling before the battle started that told me that he would appear, that the rebels weren't going to do the strategy that Akainu had said that they would and it had been right with both of these feelings.

"You just lost this battle, son of Roger" He said with an amused tone of voice as he charged towards me.

"That man is not my father!" I shouted, furious.

I gritted my teeth probably loud enough for him to hear and quickly attacked him. He was very close, probably too close, to attack him with the gun, but I didn't care. How did he dare to call me that? How did he _dare_? I felt anger bubbling inside me at an alarming pace and suddenly bursting and leaving me completely furious. Hell, I wasn't even able to reason now and I didn't particularly want to do so anyways. Dragon suddenly moved in a strange way that I didn't particularly catch, somehow managing to avoid the bullets that I had fired against him and then charged towards me with his very own weapon, which was a sword, not a gun surprisingly enough. He hit quite strongly my gun, making it be thrown away quite far, out of my reach.

"It's over now young one" He then said with that very same amused smirk.

I felt more anger bubbling up inside me, and I was about to charge against him when I suddenly remembered what I wanted to achieve. I wasn't here to defeat Dragon, but to make the biggest amount of people from my side survive. Yes, that was what I wanted to do, and to manage this I had to distract this man, that was probably the only one that posed a threat big enough to destroy my new strategy. I quickly got hold of the dager that I always carried wit me. I rarely used it, but I was very skilled with it and even though it seemed like something that wasn't able to do too much damage no matter the skill possessed I had proved to be deadly with it.

"Do you really think that I am here to win a lost battle?" I then replied coolly as I stared at the man, who was standing right in front of me with his sword between his hands.

"Ah, I see" He said, now with a grin. "Just like he would have done" He then added.

I gritted my teeth again, feeling that anger starting to build up even more inside me. I managed to calm myself down. It was important that this strategy was carried out. I had expected someone to fight me, and even though I had supposed that it would be that boy that Vivi was now fighting I had been proved to be right yet again. I charged against Dragon, aiming not to kill but to prolong the battle with him as long as possible, it was important that the leader of the brigade to whom I had communicated the strategy earlier had the time to complete it. Out of the corner of my eye I recognised some of the commanders of the rebel army fighting with some brigade leaders and other equally capable men of our side.

"I am not him" I replied with an obvious forcefully calm tone of voice.

Dragon quickly defended himself from my attack, and I just attacked him again. I suddenly heard the voice of another brigade leader that I had known for quite an amount of time behind me.

"Colonel Ace!" He said, with an obvious intent of helping me to fight Dragon. It was obvious not only to him but to everyone else that I wouldn't manage to win against Dragon, also to me.

"Don't help me! Just follow the strategy that I told you earlier! We need to stop a massacre! Don't worry about me, I will be all right!" I quickly shouted back at the man, making him not and run in another direction to follow the orders.

He just chuckled at this. "You are very similar to him though. Sacrificing yourself to save your comrades… yes he did that too, even when he could die because of it" Dragon said again, this time with a more thoughtful tone of voice.

"I don't care what he was like! That man will never be my father!" I shouted at him.

"Then why do you fight in this war" Dragon suddenly replied as he attacked me with his sword.

I looked around me, and I saw Vivi fighting against that boy, who I now recognised as the famous son of Dragon. She was fighting strongly and ferociously, but he was too, and she didn't seem to be winning. I cursed beneath my breath, promising myself to not let her die while fighting against him. She was one of the few friends that I had and I wouldn't tolerate her just dying like that, because of Akainu's failure to plan a good strategy.

"I knew that you wouldn't do an ordinary attack, Akainu doomed us, but I'm not going to allow you to have a complete victory" I said with that cool tone of voice again, ignoring the question that he had just asked me and that I truly didn't know what to answer to. I had always though to have a good motive, but now I doubted this reason. Anyways this wasn't the time and place to think about this. I had to ensure that as many people as possible survived, and this included Akainu and Vivi.

Dragon chuckled again. "You're good with strategies. Your strategy would have made us have serious difficulties to win this battle" He said.

I was shocked by this. Did he mean that he had spies so high up? "You have spies?" I said, amused as we continued fighting each other.

He laughed hard and loud as he somehow managed to continue attacking me, as if what I had just said was something very obvious. "Not just spies that are loyal to our side, to the side that wants freedom, but there are also ones from another one, from a traitor" He said.

I was shocked by this. I didn't know what to think. We both just continued fighting each other as my strategy was successfully carried out and the soldiers of our side managed to break through the circle that they had formed and that had surrounded us earlier. I grinned as I realised this.

"Why are you telling me this?" I asked Dragon.

He just looked at me, not really bothering to answer for some moments. "You are loyal" He just said, although I could tell that there were more reasons behind it just because of his tone of voice, things that I was curious about and that I wanted to know, but that I wouldn't bother asking right now.

I turned around and looked at the soldiers of our side escaping. Quite a number of them had managed to break through the circle, and the rebels were trying to cut the escape route without success. I grinned, and then I looked around and saw Vivi painfully close to be defeated by the son of Dragon. My grin disappeared, and I quickly told myself to go there and save her. Suddenly another hole appeared in the circle, and more soldiers started going outside of it through there. They had orders to not attack the rebels and just cover the escape of the other soldiers for as much as they could. We had already lost this battle, but we wouldn't be defeated totally.

"Colonel Ace!" A soldier shouted at me as he saw that I was still delaying Dragon.

"Just run away, I will follow you soon!" I quickly answered.

I attacked Dragon ferociously, more than I had done before and I managed to throw him off balance. I used this moment to quickly run towards where Vivi was. She had been shoved into the ground by Dragon's son and was about to be shot. She was visibly very damaged. She almost reminded me of a rag doll, being treated with no mercy by the enemy. I could feel a shiver going up my spine. Vivi always had been quite strong, Dragon's son was really something. I was about to charge at him when I noticed a gun that laid abandoned on the floor. I was charged. I smirked and stopped running. I was at a perfect shooting distance too.

"It's been a pleasure meeting you, Nefertari Vivi," I heard him say with no emotion as he clocked the gun.

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Kid's POV

As I descended from the helicopter, which the dumbass driver decided to get in the way of a missile and get hit, I landed on my feet. I saw Luffy and the others preparing for battle. I shot at everything that dared to move and wasn't on our side. I'm cruel, I admit, but I'm damn proud of it. Too bad Trafalgar wasn't on the enemy's side. Oh, how I'd love to clock my gun right in front of that goddamn smirk of his and wipe it right off. Getting back to my situation and out of my lovely fantasy of killing Trafalgar then dancing on his grave like there's no tomorrow, I tried to look for the bastard running this battle. It wasn't as hard to tell as it was if they were rebels. We all dress differently, so only by our face could you recognize us and our ranks, but we hide our faces half the time, so it makes no difference.

Nearly matching the speed of light, I reloaded my guns and jumped down, using some soldier's back as a landing pad. Don't worry, I think he was on the enemy's side. Ah, I spotted that son of a bitch leading the Alabastian Army. He was making commands and what do you know. Luffy, of all people, figured out that he was the commander. I'd have given the kid about twenty more minutes to figure it out. So he's not as dumb as he seems. Interesting. But some chick got in the way of his attack. I was about to go for the commander, but Lord Dragon had beaten be to it. There are only two people in the world that I would let take a perfectly good battle away from me. Luffy and Lord Dragon, don't ask why I would let Luffy, it's a respect thing. In the midst of thinking, some punk decided it would be a good chance to take me out.

"You're mine, Commander Kid!" Wow, he addressed me by rank. Was I that recognizable? Ah, I didn't give a shit. I almost yawned as I pointed my gun at his head and blew it off. I was almost tempted to hum 'Walking in a Winter Wonderland' as I did so. I'm a ruthless killer, and I'm sticking to it whether people like it or not. Another one charged at me. In response, I delivered a spinning back kick and sent that bastard flying. Deciding that I would check on everyone before continuing my fun, I took a look around. Luffy was kicking the crap out of that girl. I wanted to cheer. But I won't.

I also noticed the commander aiming a gun at Luffy. Oh, that's nice. Aiming a gun at-

Wait…

Holy- ! I was about to shoot the bastard, but I realized I couldn't make it at this angle. Dammit all! Throwing my gun aside, I did the logical thing: I sprinted, made it, and kicked him in the side. No son of bitch is going to hurt my comrades! Ooh, maybe I kicked him a little too hard… No, he's getting up. And yelling at me. Well if the brat has the energy to shout at me, he's fine.

"Why the hell did you do that?" he screeched. Yeah, he's okay.

"Fine way to be grateful! I just saved your ass!" I scowled. Yeesh, have a little courtesy, brat. "You're lucky I didn't shoot you instead!" I hollered. He glared at me, but he wasn't really mad. He stood up out of the gravel and made his way towards us. I noted the enemy was retreating.

"We have claimed our victory!" I heard Lord Dragon shout. We all did a battle cry. I looked down at Luffy and he looked paler than usual. His breathing was off, too. I ignored this until I heard him hack something. I gave him an odd look. He looked pretty normal. At least, that's what I thought until he collapsed on the hard, desert ground.

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Luffy's POV:

I clocked the gun and was about to fire it. Then the unexpected happened. I was kicked in the side, where my open wound was, mind you, and sent to a building. I had a rough time getting back up, due to the pain and me being covered in giant portions of gravel. When I did, I saw Kid, scowling at me. What the- ?

"Why the hell did you do that?" I screeched.

"Fine way to be grateful! I just saved your ass!" he retorted. "You're lucky I didn't shoot you instead!" I looked at him and glared as best I could. But I could only be scary when I was really mad. I mean really mad. I noticed the commander from earlier retrieving Vivi. Slowly it dawned on me. He had planned to shoot me. So Kid just did save my life. Of course, he expresses his concern by kicking the crap out of me. Typical Kid. You have to love him, though. Vivi and the commander were running away. Then it hit me. The commander had called for a retreat. We had won. All people in the enemy's uniform were retreating.

"We have claimed our victory!" I heard father shout. Everyone had raised their fists in the air and gave a battle cry. I did so as well. I gave my signature grin to Kid, who smirked. Out of nowhere, I felt lightheaded. People gathered towards Father and congratulated each other. I smiled proudly. He was okay. No one had hurt him. Although, my lightheadedness had gotten worse and worse. I put my hand on my head and tried to null the pain. I looked down and saw my deep gash. Oh, dammit. I completely forgot about it. I started to breathe faster in an attempt to get air in my lungs. I saw Father looking at me and I gave him a smile that seemed too weak, but I tried to make it appear stronger that I was. I blinked and was glad he had turned his attention elsewhere.

I tried and tried to make it appear I was normal, but I'm only human. I took a step, to balance me, and hacked up blood. I thanked the heavens no one noticed. I didn't want to worry them. I saw my vision double, fell to my knees, and I heard faint cries of my name before I blacked out.

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Ace's POV:

I quickly clocked mine and pointed at him. My hands were on the trigger, and I was ready to shoot and kill him. Suddenly one of his comrades barged in and kicked him quite strongly, sending him into a building just before I pulled the trigger, saving him from a certain death.

I cursed the man and I heard him shout something to the one that had just saved him. I clutched the gun between my hands. I wanted to shoot at him, but I knew that this wasn't the time. I had to save Vivi and get away from here. The battle was lost, and it would be troublesome having to deal with those two now. I gritted my teeth, suppressed the bloodthirsty feeling that had invaded me and just ran towards Vivi.

"Vivi! Let's get out of here!" I told her with determination, as I helped her get up and run away. She looked quite close to blacking out.

She looked at me, visibly exhausted and quite wounded. Was that boy that strong? If so I had been lucky to attack him by surprise.

"Ace" She said quite weakly, looking into my eyes.

I didn't say anything and I got out of the circle together with the last soldiers. The rebels were attacking ferociously the survivors, but thanks to the soldiers that had already escaped from the circle we managed to get out alive of there and then escape to our base. We had lost, but not completely. They hadn't managed to capture any of the generals or other commandants of the battle, and even though we had lost many lives we had managed to save the ones of most of the army. I grinned, saddened by the death of so many comrades and yet happy because of the success of what I had planned.

"We have claimed our victory!" I heard Dragon shout just as we had finally gotten away. The rebels started to cheer, and I felt that bloodthirsty feeling invade me again. Next time I would make sure that they had what they deserved. Next time I would make sure that Dragon's son got what he deserved for doing this to Vivi. Yes, next time I would make sure that he did.


	6. Chapter 6

Here is chapter 6! We hope that you all enjoy it! =D

Disclaimer: We don't own One Piece, Oda does. However we (xLiliumxAricox and me, Crimeson-plasma) own the plot of this story.

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Dragon's POV:

Several hours had passed since we had gotten that victory from the government. It was quite a major one too, and it had quickly boosted up the morale of all of the men, which in the end was even better than winning the battle. Last battle hadn't ended up too well, but with this high morale it would be easier to win next battle and even the successive ones. The result had been a fantastic one. It had been even better than what I had thought. It wouldn't be a long time until I would put finally in action '_that'_. It wouldn't be started during the next battle. That would be too soon, however I couldn't afford to take too long to do it though. If I took too long the purpose of doing it would be defeated. Yes. It had to be quite soon.

My thoughts quickly wondered to Luffy and then to Ivankov as I thought about what he would have to give him. He had told me that he had received it, and I knew that no one knew about the whole thing. Ivankov was one of the few people that I trusted, and the most trusted one in between those people. He had always supported me in my actions, and I knew that he would continue doing so even after I died. He would follow my orders even after I was no more. He had said that he would retire for a bit now, and this had been a massive coincidence. I just needed to give some kind of hint to Luffy, although I was sure that if something happened he would immediately go to Ivankov's house. He trusted him too. Yes, everything would be alright.

Suddenly my thoughts went back to the battle. That commander… It was a mystery to me why he hadn't been allowed to take command of the battle, although this had clearly frustrated him. This had most probably been due to one of the generals, Akainu. That man always tended to be like that. However he had been surprised when I had told him about the spies, and I had also warned him in a very light way about a traitor between their ranks, and very high up too. I had warned him about Blackbeard, and if he was like his father or his mother he would realise.

He was loyal, and an excellent strategist, not to say a very good fighter too. He was the kind of man that could decide the outcome of not only a battle but also a war. It was a mystery why they hadn't promoted him to general. If they had done he would have posed us a lot of difficulties. He had surely joined the other side due to him knowing who his father was. It just had to be because of that. I knew that Garp had taken him in. He had told me years ago. We didn't have too much of a good relation, but at times we did contact each other. We were family after all.

That colonel… Portgas D. Ace, as I had been told, would surely been fighting in the next battle. I was reading a report with information about him that had been given to me as soon as I had ordered it. We had a lot of information about the people that were in the side of the government. I realised now that he would have been a very valuable asset if he was in our side. He definitely would, and he would have probably made a very good team with my own son, just like the one that I had made with Roger and the one that both of our wives had made together too. It was a shame, really, although it could not be that he only followed blindly the orders of his higher ups, right? He surely must have thought a lot about the situation of the country, and if he hadn't yet he would. That was definite. He was a good strategist after all.

I was currently sitting down in a chair in my main office, reading his report. Yes, he would be a valuable asset and a big loss to the government if he… I grinned as a plan formed in my head. Next battle he would be ours. I knew that he wouldn't say any information or do anything to betray the government, but it would make things difficult for them.

I closed the report and left it abandoned on top of my table, that was covered entirely with documents of all type. I then stood up. I had to go to the hospital wing, where my son was. He had received some wounds during the battle and he had to be treated. He had given me quite a scare at the end of the battle, when he had lost consciousness like that, but luckily enough he wasn't wounded bad enough to make his life be in danger. It was about time that I visited him and talked to him about several things. I had to hint him what to do after the first phase of my plan was completed. I had to tell him so he was free, so he could do whatever he wanted with his life.

I started walking through the corridors of our hidden base. I had already decided what we already would do in the next battle and I had planned too for the one after that too. I went to the medical wing, that wasn't that far away in the end. Soon enough I was right in front of the door that led to the room where Luffy was. There were some voices coming from the inside. He was awake. I knocked two times and waited for him to give me permission to enter the room, with a grin pained in my face.

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Luffy POV:

When I awoke, I was in a white room. It stung my eyes a bit, but I couldn't complain. My mouth was covered with an oxygen mask, for one, and my moments were restricted with my bandages. What had happened? I tried to recall my memory. I was on the battlefield, fighting Vivi, and then Kid kicked me as the commander was about to shoot me, and… nothing. Not a thing. An empty void filled the events that occurred afterwards. On top of everything, my head was killing me. Was Father okay? Everyone else? Were there no casualties? Did we win the battle? What about Vivi? I knew it seemed odd, but I felt a connection with her. Despite I was the reason she was hurt, I actually hoped a small amount that she was okay. A small, microscopic amount. I couldn't easily forget what the government has done to us, to Father, and to me.

Footsteps had made an appearance to my ears and I heard them coming closer. There weren't loud, but nor were they quiet. Who did they belong to? Was it an enemy, or a friend? I had no clue, because my friends could have healed me, but been ambushed and I was brought to a government hospital. I continued to calculate all the possible incomes that led me to be in this position. I felt my heart beating faster as I saw the handle jiggle a little, and then the person opened the door. To my much needed relief, Law appeared. He was holding the clipboard and didn't notice (or seem to care) that I was awake.

"How are you feeling, Mr. Straw Hat?" he asked in the polite, but slightly mocking tone with the honorific he uses to address everyone. I couldn't help but glare. He was perfectly aware that I couldn't speak. I wanted to stick my tongue out at him. He just chuckled at my annoyed expression. "You certainly gave us quite the scare. Lord Dragon nearly had a panic attack when you collapsed. Luckily, you're going to be just fine. You just need to rest a few more days," it was like a well-practiced speech. Wait, Father was worried? About me? I was surprised, to say the least. It isn't me he needs to worry about, it's himself! He's near death, and it hurt so much that I had to bottle it all up. I couldn't hold it in anymore. I had to tell someone.

I shifted my gaze to Law, and he looked surprised at my expression. I was near tears and I just had to let it out. Forcing myself to sit up, I tore off my oxygen mask, and took a deep breath. His deep gray eyes turned to mine. "L-Law…" I managed. "I have to… tell you something important," this was getting harder and harder. Not because I was injured, but the way I knew Law would react. His eyes would become unresponsive and dull. He wouldn't make jokes anymore. I saw the confused look appear on his face, but I knew it would be replaced with a look of despair and hopelessness.

"What is it?" he inquired. I clutched my sheets and bit the inside of my mouth. God, why did it hurt so much? I knew the answer, deep down. I was afraid that we would separate. That we would fall apart because everyone knew how sick Father was. After taking a huge gulp, I decided to chance it. "F-Father… he's—" I never finished my sentence as a knock came at the door. Law allowed the perpetuator to come in. And right there, I saw my father.

"Mr. Lord Dragon," he began, "Mr. Straw Hat is doing quite well. He should be up and about in less than three days," he explained. Father nodded. "You were saying, Mr. Straw Hat?" the doctor turned to me. I couldn't possibly tell him now. Not with Father in here. I shook my head and said that it wasn't important. I was glad that he believed me. Without hesitation, he excused himself and left me with Father.

We sat down and talked about our recent events. I told him of Vivi and he told me about the commander and how he was related to Grandpa. To be honest, I was very surprised. I hadn't had contact with Grandpa in a very long time, considering he was on the opposite side. He always scared me, since all the letters he sent were about making me into a soldier. Violently. However, this was quickly put to a stop when Father found out and interfered. I haven't gotten a letter since.

Father told me that the commander was a deserted child that Grandpa found and took in his care. I asked if he had any parents, but Father quickly drew away from that subject. I couldn't help but wonder why. According to him, the commander's name was Ace. Ace… that had a nice ring to it. He seemed like a top-notch fighter as well. I literally hoped to cross paths one day and test how strong he was. I wondered if he was like the rest, killing and ruthless. I couldn't expect much of him. After all, he might just be like all the other soldiers. Or maybe he was just following orders. I didn't know. Although, he would've killed me if Kid hadn't kicked me. I vaguely remember the look he shot at me right before he took Vivi and left. I had never been looked at like that.

All the eyes I've seen were either of fear or determination, even anger, but never as harsh as he looked at me. I'm guessing he doesn't like me very much for hurting Vivi. Wait, why am I thinking about him so much? I'll probably never come in contact with him again. Why did I feel a slight regret when he looked at me with so much… hatred? Argh! All this thinking is hurting my brain!

Father gave me an odd look. "Are you alright?" he asked. I nodded.

"Just a small headache," I reassured him.

"Good because-" he stopped mid-sentence. I could vaguely hear an echo of his heartbeat. His eyes were wide and he began to clutch his heart.

"Father!" I shouted, worried. He stood up and left the room, with difficulty, I could imagine. I kept shouting for him, but my voice never reached him. Father just left, heading in the general direction of his room. I was about to go after him, but my wound stopped me. No, Father was more important! I grasped my wound with one hand and attempted to stand up. But Law reentered the room and immediately began to urge me to lie down. I was resistant at first, trying to tell him Father needed help, but he either didn't hear me, or was under the impression that I was delusional.

"Don't worry," he hushed my cries. "I just saw Lord Dragon. He's perfectly fine," he reassured. I refuse to believe him. "He's okay," Law kept saying, trying to convince me. Why wouldn't he believe me? "Sorry about this," he muttered. His tan hand ran through his pocket and pulled out a needle. He quickly injected it into me, and the last thing on my mind was Father.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: We don't own One Piece, Oda does. We do however own the plot of this story

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Blackbeard's POV:

I looked around me and at all of the different books that filled the many shelves that were inside my office. Wrong. Wrong. Everything was going wrong. Things shouldn't have turned out like this, and the worst thing was that I had to make it seem like I was _glad_ that things were like this. I was lucky that I was a great liar, or else I would have been discovered a long time ago. Everything was going wrong, but I knew that my plan would still work. I just had to fix one or two things.

I had let Portgas D. Ace, the son of that bastard called Roger, lead the last battle, and it had proved to be a great error. While it had been a defeat it hadn't been as big as I hadn't intended it to be. Vivi, the daughter of the king of Arabasta was still alive, and that was just one of the things that had gone wrong. She was alive because Ace had saved her, and also prevented the rebel army from massacring us. I needed that massacre, and more especially, I _needed_ Vivi to die. I needed the heir to the throne to die. However Ace had saved her. I hadn't expected him to do that when I had told him to lead the battle, but I knew now that I should have expected it. If only I had paid a bit more of attention to how he was I would have been able to avoid this. That young man was a danger to my plan, and I needed to get rid of him as soon as possible. I suddenly heard several knocks on the door.

"Come in" I said with a monotone tone of voice.

The door opened, and revealed to be Ace. He had a serious expression on his face, and looked quite weary. He looked almost... suspicious, and I couldn't help but wonder of what. He had fought with Dragon and hadn't been defeated by him in the strictest meaning of the word. Could the rebellion leader have told him something? I knew that that man had spies here that were all over the place. In fact, it was possible that they were watching me right now. I closed my eyes as I started to think about the situation carefully. Judging by Ace's expression he surely knew now that there was a traitor. I have to be careful now.

"What do you want, Colonel Ace" I said with a formal and emotionless tone of voice.

"I was informed that you wanted to see me" He said, still eying me with suspicion.

"Ah, yes" I said with a more relaxed tone of voice. "I wanted to talk to you about the battle that we will have tomorrow" I then added.

"Isn't there going to be a meeting in an hour?" He asked me.

"Yes, but I wanted to explain to you the basic plans for tomorrow" I then said "It will be important" I then added.

He nodded and continued looking at me.

"Sit down, please" I said as I pointed to the other vacant chair in the room.

He nodded again and sat down. "What is your plan?" He then asked with a serious tone of voice, going directly to the issue.

I smiled. He was intelligent, so I had to be careful. He was a danger to my plan, and I already had an idea about what to do in the battle to ensure that he was killed or captured.

"We will attack them at their weakest spot. We must be quick, now that they think that we are weakened. We will attack through the mountains of the east, near a town important to them." I said "I'll explain more during the meeting, but I called you here to tell you another thing" I then added.

"What is it sir?" He asked me.

"Seeing the results of the last battle I want you to lead this one again. I will also be leading, and Kizaru will be present as well" I said.

He nodded yet again, eying me with surprise in his eyes. "Thank you sir" He said.

"What do you think that was the cause for our defeat?" I then asked him, purely out of curiosity.

He thought for several moments. "The strategy proposed and followed by Akainu was the wrong one, if we had followed a better one we would have won even with Dragon there" he replied after some moments with confidence.

I nodded. "Interesting answer" I said, knowing plain well that he had just said the reason for the failure.

He then looked at me with hesitation, as if trying to decide whether he should tell me something or not.

"You look as if you want to tell me something Ace" I said, trying to convince him to tell me whatever that he was thinking, that surely was what Dragon had told him during the battle. Yes, Dragon had told him something important, and I wondered what it was and to what amount of detail.

"I'm not sure if I should tell this… but Dragon told me something during the battle" he said slowly.

"Really?" I asked with fake curiosity.

"He told me that there was a traitor in the higher ranks, and I was… wondering who that traitor was" He said.

"I can't believe it" I then said, trying to sound as truthful as possible.

"I couldn't either, but that man hasn't got a single reason to lie to us. I was thinking about it for a while and I think that it is true, but I don't know who that person can be" He said then, sounding a bit forceful while saying that.

I nodded, knowing that he had just lied. Judging by how he had looked when he had entered the room showed that he did have more or less and idea of who that traitor was, and I was certain that he suspected me. I closed my eyes and thought about my plan again. I would soon be governing Arabasta instead of the current king, and Ace was a danger that was bigger than what I had thought at first. "I have to get rid of him as soon as possible" I told myself mentally.

"Well, you may go now Colonel Ace, remember than in an hour there will be a meeting in the meeting room. Don't miss it" I said.

He nodded. "I will not sir" He said with respect, but with a glint of suspicion in his eyes before he turned around and left the room.

As soon as he did this I got on my feet and walked out of the room. I would have to be careful with this. I had to talk with my most loyal followers to plan in more detail tomorrow before that meeting. I would get rid of Portgas D. Ace and make sure that he would be out of the way. The kid knew far too much.

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Vivi's POV:

I opened my eyes again to find one of our doctors treating me. The room was an artic white, with the smell of antiseptic in the air. I couldn't see the doctor's face, for he had a white surgeon mask on him. His eyes were calm and warm, as if to comfort me. Usually surgeons gave me the creeps because they looked like all they wanted to do was dissect me. My eyes traveled down one my body, observing the damage. I wasn't totally covered in bandages, but I had quite a lot. Nothing hurt though. I was numb, probably due to some medication they gave me while I was unconscious to dull the pain. It worked.

The only thing on my mind was Luffy. Ace saw what he did to me, and Ace would hunt him down for what he did. I've got to warn Ace how strong Luffy is! His life could be in danger. But my good-mannered personality refrained me from telling the doctor to leave me be. After a few minutes, the doctor bowed and left. Not five seconds later, Ace appeared. He wore a beige sleeveless top, the standard army pants, and boots. His hands rested in his pockets. One of his legs rested gently on the side of the wall as he leaded against it. Several bandages were on him, but not nearly as much as I had.

"How are you feeling?" he asked. I smiled at him.

"You're talking to a general here, I'm pretty tough, you know!" I said. He just laughed with me. He told me about his fight with Dragon, and I tried to tell him about Luffy, but I never seemed to have the chance. Damn that Dragon! Messing with Ace's head, comparing him to his father! Ace is not Roger, and I will always believe that. Is that why Ace seemed so mad during the battle? A few moments of silence passed and he looked at me. I was about to mention Luffy, but the look he had stopped me from speaking. Something in his eyes told me what he was going to say was important.

"I just had a talk with Teach, something's not right," he spoke in a serious tone.

"What do you mean?" I asked curiously.

"Call it intuition. I don't know why, but have you noticed that Teach has been acting rather odd the past few weeks?"

"Ace, at least use an honorific. He is your superior, you know," I reminded him of his position.

"Vivi, I'm serious." The coldness of his voice surprised me. "He seems… wary of his surroundings." I just nodded. "Dragon told me something other than about my bastard father." He looked down so that his eyes rested on the floor, but were full of determination and something else that I could not detect.

"What?" I was so curious now. Ace seemed so sure about something, but what? And how was Sir Teach involved?

"Dragon mentioned," he took a pause to breathe and his gaze made its way to me, "a traitor. In the higher ranks." My eyes widened. A traitor? Well, betrayal is nothing new to this war, but in the higher ranks? "I don't know why, but I suspect Teach."

"Ace!" I scolded. He seemed shocked at my outburst. "Listen to what you're saying! He's a highly respected man who has helped us through thick and thin! And you have the gall to accused him of betrayal?" How could he? Marshal D. Teach was a great man!

"Like I said, it's intuition. You don't have to agree with me whatsoever," he shrugged. With that, I calmed down a bit.

"Say," I began. His obsidian eyes rested on me. "You know, during my battle-" his voice cut me off.

"Don't worry, I'll kick that Monkey's ass for you," he smirked.

"That's not it," I shook my head. "He actually… saw me as an opponent. Most people don't do that due to me being a woman. He asked my name and rank, Ace!" I was overwhelmed with excitement.

"That so?" He looked at me kindly. It turned to cold and grave in seconds. "Have you forgotten what people like him have done to this country?" he seemed very tempted to yell at me. Why was he getting so mad? "Vivi, I saw him ram your head repeatedly into gravel. I watched him nearly kill you." His voice was rising with each word. "Do you know what it would mean to me if you would die?" I suddenly felt so insensitive and hurt at the same time. "I can't lose you Vivi!" he walked over to me. Those eyes of his were full of pain. Then they shut as his teeth clenched tightly. "Not like Sabo," my eyes widened. He never spoke of Sabo. Not since he died. His voice became softer. "Not like Sabo…" he repeated. It was almost inaudible.

"Ace… he's different." Ace raised his head and looked shocked at me. "He's not like the monsters that killed my mother. Nor is he like the people who killed Sabo. The only time I was actually able to get a hit was when…" Ace looked at me, listening intently. "He was distracted. Do you know what he was distracted by, Ace?" My friend shook his head. "You." I took a deep breath in. "He kept watching you and Dragon fight. He seemed so worried for his father. He can feel, Ace. He's human!" I shouted. "Don't compare him to the people who took my mother and Sabo!" I started to pant. Once again, Ace was stunned.

"Vivi…" he mumbled. "Why are you standing up for Dragon's son?" he voice was back to normal, but anger covered it completely.

"He has a name." I glared at him. Why did he keep looking down on Luffy? I didn't understand.

"Fine, why are you defending Luffy?"

"If you rushed out to fight him Ace, even someone of your power would lose." For a while, we just sat in silence. "He's strong, Ace…"

Ace just kept silent. He turned and started to leave. "I have a meeting to go to, see you 'round." With that, he slammed the door, leaving me to my own thoughts.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8 is up at last! We hope that you guys enjoy it :D Thanks for all of the favs, comments and alerts that you have given to this story! I'm glad that you like it :D Don't forget that this story is a collaboration between me and wonderful xLiliumxAricox from deviantart :D

Disclaimer: We don't own One Piece, Oda does. We do, however, own the plot of this story.

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Marco's POV:

I closed and opened my eyes several times as I quickly went over all of the things that I would have to accomplish today. I knew that I was in danger now, Blackbeard wasn't a man to be underestimated, and I was afraid that I had accidentally done that during the past months. Of course I now would have to pay the consequences, but I didn't care at all. I would gather all of the last information that Pops needed and finish what I was ordered to do. I wasn't the captain of his first division for anything. I would manage to do this, and no one, not even Blackbeard, would stop me.

I opened my eyes yet again and scanned my surroundings. We were near the place where the rebels were camped after that defeat that the government, 'we', had suffered. They were unaware of our presence, and that was the key thing about the whole plan. Ace, Blackbeard and Kizaru were the ones that were leading the battle. It seemed like a normal and sensible decision for Blackbeard to take, but there was something suspicious about all of this. I sensed that this battle wouldn't be as good as he made everyone think, as Blackbeard made everyone think, and the fact that I already knew mostly about his intentions after months, no, years of acting as a spy and some kind of double agent only made my suspicions worse. Something important would happen today, but I had no idea about what it could be. Yes. I knew that I shouldn't be here, that Blackbeard probably had a very good idea of what my true colours were. I had been gone for months, supposedly in a "spying" mission. Of course this was classified information, I had no idea what had been told to other people.

I took a deep breath in, noticing the smell of gunpowder in the air amongst other things that were typical of this desert. I slowly got up from the rock that I was sitting on. It was almost the time for the attack to start, and I better start getting into the position that I had planned to be in when the attack started so that I could finish gathering the rest of the information that I wanted to get before I finally got to disappear from here. I smiled with enthusiasm at that prospect. I hated being here. I hated feeling like an ally of this… side, but I knew that I would feel the exact same way if I was right now with the rebels. I disliked them both, and that was just one of the reasons that had drawn me to join Whitebeard after meeting him once or twice, and one of the reasons why I had accepted doing this very willingly.

I started making my way towards where the tent where the three main commanders that would be leading the battle were. I had to be relatively close once it had all started to make what I wanted to do… easier. Besides, it would be good to see Ace one last time before I finally went away and was declared probably an outlaw. I would miss him, but I wouldn't be able to do anything about it. Still, I knew that he would be alright.

We were situated on top of a slightly tall mountain or hill, quite near to the rebel army that was situated in a protected area between some part of the desert and a taller mountain. Barely a day had passed since last battle and they were already here, incredible.

I quickly got into the hidden position that I had chosen quite close to the tent, knowing full well that this area would be deserted as soon as the battle started. I hid myself between several objects that lay abandoned slightly close to it and that were very well hidden from view. It was then when the three men who were inside the tent discussing the final details of the strategy that would be followed today came out.

"So that is what we will do specifically then?" I heard Ace say as he came out, quite serious and calm.

"Yes, but remember that it is important for you to get the timing right" Kizaru just said.

"I know very well. Either we get the timing right or all of this fails" Ace replied.

"Precisely" Kizaru immediately added. "I will head now to my position to lead the men that have been assigned to me and tell them the rest of the plan" He said.

"Very well, but remember that this is very important, Kizaru" Blackbeard, who had remained silent until then, said.

"I am aware of all of this. Everything will be perfect. Tonight we'll defeat them" He finally said before going away.

"I will be doing the same thing, General Blackbeard. I will ensure that everything is perfect" Ace then said.

Blackbeard smiled and just walked back into the tent for a moment, muttering something under his breath that I couldn't catch entirely. I waited patiently for him to abandon his position, listening carefully to all of the sounds that were being made and also trying to hear what Blackbeard was muttering under his breath. Suddenly he stopped talking, and started to do what I ended up identifying as writing something.

Minutes passed, and suddenly he came out of the tent carrying several things, in between which was a newly written letter. He handed it to a soldier that was waiting for him and he muttered something about giving it as soon as possible. The soldier nodded and took the letter, only walking away once Blackbeard was out of view and had headed towards his position. I walked out of my hiding place, knowing very well that I had to get hold of that letter. I smiled and quickly went after the soldier that had the letter. Suddenly a loud sound was heard. The battle had started.

"And so it starts" I muttered just before I finally caught up with the soldier that had the letter, who had started running in a certain direction, prepared more than enough to defeat him and get that letter.

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Dragon's POV:

Suddenly they were all attacking us. The government had found our position, and it wasn't as unexpected as they surely intended it to be. I dashed out of the tent inside which I had been resting at and started giving orders to the commanders and fellow comrades that were nearby, telling them to get into positions. I had already expected something like this to happen, and I had already thought of how to fight back. I grinned at this thought, realizing that if everything went well we would defeat the government again.

Luffy was in no condition to fight, so I immediately ordered for his protection. He was still at our main hideout, which was undiscovered, but I had to take precautions. According to my information, Law was healing him, but Hawkins had taken the role of guarding and refused anyone's help, even if it was under my orders. Law had told me earlier how Luffy kept saying I was dying. How close to the truth Law was, but he disregarded it. He was a smart man, but I lucked out as he only believed that to be Luffy's delusions. I saw Luffy's worried and hurt eyes as he saw me choking. Forgive me, Luffy, you had to see me in that state. But no matter, that will come later.

All the commanders, except Luffy, Law, and Hawkins, had appeared, ready to fight. Once again, that commander was here. Portgas D. Ace. I assumed he took Rouge's name out of hate for his father. Although, Gol D. Ace sounded nice as well. I caught myself being sidetracked. No one knew how much Luffy and I really were alike. He'd do something like this too, in the middle of a battle, no less.

I took a look at our enemy. Who was fighting us? I recognized Kizaru (he wasn't that hard to miss, the man stood out like a billboard). There was also the general who I wouldn't trust, despite the fact that he gave us information that was partial to our recent victory. Marshall D. Teach, or more widely known as Blackbeard, was fighting in this battle. I had met the man a few years ago, and when I first saw him, my instincts told me to distance myself from him. He could give us all the damn information in the world, and I will never let my guard down when near him. Teach, himself, other than being the enemy, had done nothing directly against me. He wasn't an ally, nor was he a friend to the government. I could tell it was all an act. I have the ability to read people clearly, like an open book. Luffy has inherited this trait as well. Blackbeard is hiding something big, I just knew it.

And there was Portgas D. Ace. Such a young and determined man, ready to fight. He seemed to have a huge amount of confidence. What was he planning? I analyzed the situation. He was focusing on one part of the battleground, seemingly keeping to whatever his orders were. Seemingly. I could tell he was looking for someone in particular. Perhaps a signal he was waiting for? No, he would never give away such an important part of their strategy through his actions. Suddenly, I knew who he was looking for. My son, Luffy. _'I'd like to see you try.'_ Need some vengeance, Ace? Do you have that much of a grudge against my son? I saw Luffy take down that general without breaking a sweat. So Ace was close to that general. Were they friends? Or maybe more? It didn't matter, he wouldn't get to Luffy. He'd have to kill me first. Even in my weakened state, I was more than able to kick a mere kid's ass. Ah, I'm sidetracking again.

Following each my orders without hesitation, the commanders and their divisions drew the enemy's forces back a bit. No soldier had gotten to me yet, and I doubt they will. My mistake, one brave man seemed to have passed through our defenses somehow. I just darted my eyes at him. With my crossed arms, my perfect posture, and my hair gently swayed in the wind, I knew I was very intimidating. I could tell by the way he was shaking. Bravely, but still shaking, he pointed a gun at me.

"D-Dragon!" he tried to say as firmly as he could. He looked scared out of his mind, though. This was a reaction I was quite used to; even some of my coworkers offered that response.

"Going to kill me, kid?" I said in a mocking tone. This man, wait a minute, this _boy_ looked even younger than Luffy! He was fighting in such a battle? "Do you have a name?" I stated in a monotone voice that seemed uncaring.

"C-Coby…" he gulped.

"This is a battleground, kid. I suggest you leave before you get hurt," I offered wise advice. He didn't move, other than his relentless shaking. "Have you gone deaf with the sounds of gunfire? I said get out of here," I ordered. To see such a young child fight, and possibly die in this war was nothing new. Hell, people of younger ages have died throughout this war. But, his ambition reminded me of Luffy when he was that age. Surprisingly, he did as he was told and bolted out of here. Smart move, kid.

I saw a bomb being dropped and was about eight meters from me. It was a small bomb, like a warning, so I only felt an aftershock that ruffled my hair. I was unaffected other than the deafening sound. That had better not have been one of Miss Jewelry's bombs. It turns out, it was the enemy's. But why such a small bomb? To draw my attention to it, and get me confused, no doubt. But what was I supposed to be drawn away from. I searched in my line of vision for any sign of anything out of the ordinary. I spotted none, but kept my guard up. After all, you can never predict what the government plans, unless your Hawkins. I shifted my head slightly behind me, as I felt someone behind me. I was not disappointed. I saw Kizaru, in his yellow and orange striped outfit. Over the dust and sand particles that somewhat blocked my vision, I saw him smirk. He fired a red flare signal over the warfare. My eyes widened. That was the signal. But for what?


	9. Chapter 9

Here is chapter nine! We hope that you enjoy it :D Please remember that this fanfic is a collab between me and xliliumxaricox on deviantart

Disclaimer: We don't own One Piece or any of its characters

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Ace's POV:

The battle had been going on for what seemed like hours already, although I had no real way to know exactly how much time had passed. It could have been minutes. It could have been hours. I had no way to know how much time had passed, but now wasn't the time to care. I had to achieve what I had been ordered. I had to be exactly in that place after taking down specific people out of the battle. It was important, essential to the success of this attack. It was, in fact, so important that almost the whole outcome of the battle depended on it. It was my responsibility, and I would ensure that I would achieve victory. After our defeat we couldn't afford to lose again. Dragon and the rebels were strong, no matter how many commanders liked to deny this by saying that we had a huge advantage over them. They were strong, and they shouldn't be underestimated if you valued your live or victory. How many people had fallen to them? I had no way of knowing, no one really did, and yet this war continued to go on and on in a cruel, merciless and sadistic manner, seeming unstoppable.

All around me were many different people that were fighting against each other with a passion and energy that could only be seen in battles. This battle was important, and they knew it. We knew it, and they knew too. The air was heavy with the smell of blood and death, reaching everything and reminding me and everyone else of the possible outcome of this if we committed an error. Sand and dust was all around me, hindering my vision and making things even more difficult. Kizaru had already issued the signal that I had been waiting for since the battle had commenced, the red flare that told all of us what had to be done now. What would have to be converted from mere plans into reality.

"Forwards!" I shouted as I went through what we had planned for the millionth time in what could have been seconds "We have to get to Dragon! Blackbeard and Kizaru will take care of the rest! The first part of the plan has been completed!" I then shouted again.

I smirked. Everything would soon be over if we completed this. The rebels would suffer a harsh blow, one which would make them weaker than they had ever been before.

"But sir, we could be surrounded if we do that!" I heard a soldier beside me shout, evidently worried.

"Blackbeard will take care of the rest! He will cover us and prevent that from happening! We have to charge now!" I just repeated.

The soldier besides me just nodded with newly found confidence. "Yes sir" He just said as he immediately started running forwards.

I quickly started going forwards too, taking down all of the enemies that tried to prevent me from advancing. Kizaru would surely have dealt with most of the rebel commanders by now, and had to be near Dragon. Now was the time. We had to act as soon as possible to assure our victory… and Dragon's death. The man didn't seem to be an evil person, or one that would sacrifice anyone for his wellbeing. He definitely seemed to be a good man, and his son, that Luffy, probably meant the world for him, but that didn't matter now. Nothing like that mattered. We had to ensure that freedom and liberty continued to exist, that the citizens of this country could live in peace and happiness, and that wasn't something that the rebels would ever achieve. It didn't matter that Dragon was or wasn't a good man, or that he cared or didn't care for his son. Neither of these things mattered when it came to the future of the country, a future that, if it was to be good, had to start with his death. He would be at his weakest point right now, and we knew that. He certainly knew that by now too. This was why we had to exploit his weakness, a weakness that we had planned for and that we had to seize. There was only one fault to our plan: We would fail and most probably die if we were surrounded. That was why Kizaru had to carry out an essential part of the plan by taking down the enemy commanders and distracting Dragon, and it was also why Blackbeard's part was even more important. Neither of them managed to complete what they had agreed to do over one third of the army could be exterminated.

Soon, Dragon was in my eyesight, close and closer. He was fighting some soldiers, evidently knowing that everything could go wrong if he played badly his cards. I shook my head, forcing myself to concentrate again in the battle field. Seconds passed by, and soon I was right in front of Dragon.

"It is a good strategy, but quite a risky one, don't you think?" He said as he looked at me with a calm tone of voice.

"It's perfect for what we want to achieve" I just said "Risks don't matter when you have everything planned and accounted for" I then added as I quickly attempted to punch the man right in front of me.

He easily defended himself, and soon we were fighting each other with all the energy that we had and with all the weapons we came across. I would defeat him. I was determined to do so, and nothing would stop me. If I played my cards well he would be overpowered soon, and Blackbeard would come in just in time to defeat the rest of the rebel army. Victory was certain.

"Are you sure?" I heard the other man ask then with a glint of curiosity in his eyes. "Haven't you localised the traitor yet?" He then asked.

I almost growled at this. "It doesn't matter right now" I just said as my attack landed on the other man, suddenly disarming him and putting him in a position that ensured his defeat and death in a matter of seconds. I quickly continued to attack the other man, landing blow after blow on him and sensing the final moment coming nearer and nearer.

"But it does" The man then said quizzically then, as if he knew something that I didn't.

It was then when I finally managed to land a blow on the other man that made him fall to the ground. I opened my mouth, about to ask what was what he had meant by saying that, but it was just then when I realised that something was wrong. We were almost surrounded. No, we already were. Where was Blackbeard? This shouldn't be happening! Everything had changed. We could all die in a matter of minutes if nothing was done.

"I see" I just said as I looked at the man that was still lying on the floor with a grin on his face. I had him at my mercy now. I could kill him now if I wanted to, but…

"Sir! We are surrounded!" I suddenly heard that same soldier from before tell me with fear in his voice.

I gulped. This was bad, very bad. If we didn't get out of here now we would all be killed. I could kill the man that was right in front of me if I wanted, but that would only mean that we would all die. Victory would have to wait; I couldn't let any people die here. I just couldn't. I quickly scanned the battlefield with my eyes. Blackbeard was nowhere in sight, and neither was Kizaru. What had happened? This couldn't have been an accident. It was impossible.

"Charge to their left wing! We have to get out of here before we all die here!" I shouted as soon as I spotted their weakest point.

Seconds passed, and soon we had managed to break through them. Most of the soldiers were managing to retreat. Many were dying now, but I knew that the majority of them would manage to return safely to their loved ones.

"Sir! They are surrounding us again! We can't maintain this rhythm much more!" Someone beside me shouted.

I growled and quickly cursed Blackbeard and Dragon under my breath. What was going on here? "Ensure that the biggest amount of soldiers possible manage to get out of here" I quickly said.

"But sir…" The other man started saying.

"I will cover your retreat with the others! Now go! Do as I say!" I shouted at the man. I clenched my fist. I had to ensure that the biggest amount of people possible survived and got out of here. They had loved ones to return to, they couldn't die here. I had to ensure that the biggest amount of people possible survived, even if that meant that I would die.

I continued fighting with the men that decided to remain at my side. It would happen soon, and they knew it as well as I and the enemy did. Our lines were pure chaos, and I couldn't spot Blackbeard or the men under his command anywhere now. Seconds passed, and I suddenly became aware that the few of us that remained were surrounded. I took a deep breath in and cursed again under my breath. The rebels were all around us now, and one by one the ones that remained were being killed by them, innocent men and women that would never be able to return to their homes or loved ones. Soon, I was the only one that remained there, surrounded by rebels and with Dragon right in front of me.

"You are surrounded now, Portgas D. Ace. Surrender" The other man said with a confident voice.

I grinned and dropped my weapon, surrendering silently.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Hawkins' POV

There are many things I see and understand. There are some that I don't understand, however. One of these things is why we continue to fight. Humans are fragile creatures, doomed to die one day. By fighting we are quickening the road to death. Another thing I am unable to comprehend is that Lord Dragon is dying but refuses to see medical attention. The probability of the Commanders hearing of his sickness is 5.67%. Chaos ensuing should they find out is 97.03%. It is logical to not let them know. The person suffering physically from the sickness is Dragon himself. But Monkey D. Luffy is suffering the most mentally. I've envisioned Lord Dragon's death countless times, all in a different manner. I only had the repeat of his death in one way once. Only once. It never repeated again.

Dreams are the main way I can foresee events. They could be vague at times, but they can also be clear as well. I recalled the most reoccurring dream. An upcoming battle. Yes, this would be the one. The details of the dream were clear. Death was written all over this battle. So much death on our side. It was unavoidable this time. Unless we were not to go into battle to begin with, there is no changing this fate. But the chances of that are too low to consider.

I've envisioned the war finally ending, bringing peace to everyone, but no one I know was alive. Proving we are fighting for a peaceful future for others to live in. Why? Why must we suffer so that they do not know of war? I placed the factors and flipped them over. My cards tell me a capture is undergoing. Portgas D. Ace. I am not fond of that man. He is on the enemy side, and he is a main factor in Monkey D. Luffy's pain. He causes it. Yet he is smirking in defeat. Pitiful.

I felt a swift in the world. A chill. A drop of perspiration rolled down my forehead. My hand had involuntary movement, no longer under my control, twitching to the side. I recognized these signs. They were a warning for a vision. My eyesight became blurred and all around me felt hazy. Then, everything became clear.

_A boy waited. Monkey D. Luffy. He stared softly into the distance. Hands embrace him from behind. Not an enemy, no. a friend, even more so.His expression lightened. Happiness."I'd knew you'd come!" he exclaimed._

_**Who?**_

_The man's face was unseen."I'll always come." A smile. "I love you too much to keep you waiting." The boy giggled in response. _

_**Who makes Monkey D. Luffy so happy?**_

"_I love you, too!" he grinned a carefree grin in response._

_**How long has it been since I've witnessed a true smile from him?**_

"_We should go, the others are waiting," the man informed. Monkey D. Luffy pouted in response._

"_Just a little more time? I want us to be alone for a bit. Please?" he beseeched._

_**Who is able to make my comrade, my friend, smile so freely? I need to know. Who is it? I beg of you, turn around!**_

_Then man did. The face was so clear. That man was-_

"Hawkins!" I cry of my name drew me from my vision. A hand was cupping the curve between my neck and cranium. The fingers tangled in my locks. Such a simple gesture, yet so meaningful. I darted to who gave me comfort. Trafalgar Law. Another I would consider a friend. A bit dark and not normal. But who is? "What happened? You're-!" I understood what he meant. I felt pain in my side. Bleeding or bruising would be a normal reaction from my body. Whenever a vision is presented to me, I feel pain. Sometimes in large amounts. This is the price I must pay for my gift. He sighed in exasperation. "Can you move?" No, I could not. I could not speak, so I shook my head as an attempt to communicate. "I see." He felt the need to carry me like a bride. His strength was enticing. With just his arms, he could lift my whole body. I was not light, I knew so. "Luffy-ya! Open the door!" he commanded. My friend was conscious now… He hastily did as he was told and looked at me with worry.

Why am I affected so much just by being cared for by my friends? Before joining this war, I had nothing. It was new for people to care for me so. I didn't dislike it. It gave me an odd feeling in my stomach. "Hawkins! What happened?" I didn't answer not because I didn't want to, but I felt it too long to explain. Trafalgar Law set me on the bed and tended to my wound. I gazed up on the ceiling, lost in thought. Before I knew it, he was done, and decided to take over my position as the guard. "Neh, neh, Hawkins!" I heard my friend call me. Unable to do anything else, I darted my eyes to Monkey D. Luffy, showing that I had heard him. "I guess we're roommates now! Shishishishi!" his laugh filled the room, vibrations ricocheting off the objects so that the sound echoed in my ears. Another fake smile. I don't understand. Why does he smile so? I can see through it, had no one else? He is in pain. Unbearable pain. Yet he seeks no aid to comfort himself. But all that would change. The moment he meets with that man, he will truly smile. When he meets Portgas D. Ace.


End file.
